


Don't Let the Sunlight Call You Homeward

by dedougal



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-08
Updated: 2012-07-08
Packaged: 2017-11-09 10:21:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/454409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dedougal/pseuds/dedougal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen Ackles knows that an assignment on Delta Bega will be good for his career. Despite the adaptations it'll take to survive underwater, the prospect of actually staying in one place rather than zooming around the galaxy as part of the Space Corps is also quite appealing. As is the idea of learning more about Jeff, the rather mysterious (and hot) man that Jensen wouldn't mind encountering again. Facing genetic modification, mining disasters and the perils of living underwater, life only becomes more difficult for Jensen when he and Jeff discover a bond that will threaten both their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Let the Sunlight Call You Homeward

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2012 round of SPN_J2 Big Bang. Art by [Leyna55](http://leyna55.livejournal.com/18965.html#cutid1).
> 
> Thanks to stageira, dazedrose and majestic_shriek for reading this over and helping me out.

It was a party. Jensen had been to plenty of those in his life. He’d been to birthday parties for his nephews. He’d had wild drinking parties as part of his student career. He’d even thrown a particularly memorable party for his last promotion that he didn’t remember ninety percent of. Those all had something in common that this party didn’t: fun.

This party was deathly dull. Boring. So snooze worthy that Jensen was contemplating finding a quiet corner or a handy curtain and curling up for a nap. That would be completely unacceptable. Instead he stood, holding his glass in one hand, and smiled until his cheeks hurt. He had one mission here: be polite and not get drunk. Not getting drunk was easy enough. He didn’t let a drop of the alcohol present pass his lips. Being polite was proving rather too easy as well. After a range of murmured greetings, the other attendees, mainly politicians, seemed to label Jensen as harmless and unimportant and spent the rest of the evening being superbly polite to people with more influence.

They weren’t wrong. Jensen had been dragged into this by the ambassador. He’d spent most of the trip out to Delta Bega trying to avoid the ambassador’s advances without seeming to avoid. He knew the value of not giving insult. He just always had a duty shift starting whenever her flirting descended towards a more definite destination. She had wanted more of an entourage than the one the Earth government had sent with her too. So Jensen, as well as a few of the more decorative officers from the crew, had gotten fancied up in their dress uniforms and resigned themselves to death by boredom.

It beat a fire fight, he supposed. Although that wasn’t what he’d joined the Space Corps for either. He wanted to get off-planet, see a bit more of the universe than his settled, out-of-the-way backwater of a home world. He wanted an education, to meet people who had more than just farming and the latest baseball score on their mind. He wanted the stars and the Corps offered all that.

Delta Bega actually lay below them. The planet was larger than Earth, just slightly, but lay roughly the same distance from its sun. Jensen enjoyed the way the waters that covered nearly ninety five per cent of the planet varied in hue, from an ice blue near the poles to a rich turquoise over the deeper trenches under the water. He’d seen pictures of the cities under the water, more populous as any back home although nothing like the cities on Earth. Those had taken some getting used to for a farmboy. His first glimpse from space had been of a vast, endless swathe of habitation. Even the deserts and seas were colonised, air domes covering most of the surface. Delta Bega was more like some of the alien planets, the more recently settled. From here, the planet looked untouched. His thoughts were interrupted by a gentle yearning sigh from his side. Jensen turned from his contemplation of the planet to respond to the person beside him.

It took him a few instants to recover his thoughts. The man beside him was just a little taller than him, just a little older. Well, to be honest, a little older than that. The thought sent something a little dark and pleasant through Jensen. He wasn’t afraid to own his kinks and this man hit just about every one of them. Then he let his eyes dip down and enjoy the man’s body. It wasn’t that as much as the fact that the man was wearing a relatively sheer shirt. Under the diaphanous white material, his skin was smooth and muscled. Jensen dragged his eyes back to the man’s face – polite was the order of the day – and was struck by a strong jaw and quietly laughing eyes, crinkles at the corners betraying his amusement.

“Hello,” Jensen choked out. He had to stop imaging what the muscles of this man’s arms would feel like under his palms or how his mouth would taste, stubble scraping against Jensen’s own close shave. Jensen clasped his hands behind his back in the most military attitude he could manage. He was disciplined and rule bound, not some kind of eager catamite. That thought made Jensen wonder at his sudden weak-kneed attraction.

The Corps had strict rules. He wasn’t supposed to fraternise with his subordinates. He wasn’t supposed to sleep with his superiors. He wasn’t supposed to engage in relations of any kind while on active duty. He was not supposed to jeopardise missions in any way. The dark line of stubble on this man’s jaw, the wicked glint in his hazel eyes made Jensen want to break all kinds of rules.

The other man smiled, lazily, eyes hooded and full of intent. “Hello.” His voice was deep, a dark rumble Jensen felt rolling along his spine like a physical caress. “You’re from Earth?” It wasn’t so much of a question as a statement. Jensen looked more closely at the man. There was a trace of something alien in his words, but it wasn’t produced by an imbedded translator. The man spoke English, sure enough, fluently, almost convincingly native, but there was something just subtly wrong. He looked human but there were so many human colonies out there that wasn’t surprising.

“Near enough. New Dallas. Central Worlds.” The faint flutter in his throat gave Jensen enough of a hint to finally work out the truth. “And you’re Began. I didn’t think you left the water.”

The man let out a soft snort as Jensen cursed himself. He might inadvertently have caused some kind of interstellar incident. The dance in his eyes didn’t stop, though. “And I thought Earthers were stuck in the mud.”

Jensen scrabbled at the back of his neck, showing his embarrassment. “I’m sorry. Jensen Ackles, First Lieutenant, Impala. We brought the ambassador to the summit.”

“And the ambassador brought you to the summit, Lieutenant Ackles. I have seen the way her eyes follow you and your attributes.” The man leaned close to whisper it to his ear although no doubt the raft of listening devices in the room would be recording everything. Jensen appreciated the attempt at discretion, especially when the man’s breath stroked along his ear, making him shiver. “I’m Jeff.”

“Jeff?” Jensen asked incredulously.

“I have a more formal name and title, Lieutenant Ackles, but I prefer to have my… friends call me that.” The slight pause before friends was enough to let Jensen know exactly what Jeff hoped he might become. Jensen let his eyes drop following the muscles of Jeff’s stomach to his navel, tracing the trail of soft dark hair that led to the pants that concealed a definite bulge between Jeff’s legs. Jensen knew he was licking his lips.

“Jeff it is,” Jensen replied. “And you must call me Jensen.” He backed it up with a short nod of the head that could be considered a bow in some cultures. Jeff laughed at that, low and soft, then responded with a mocking mirror of Jensen’s action. The stifling formality did nothing to dissipate the heat rising between them.

“I’ll call you that, no doubt.”

A bell rang, and Jensen looked up to see the rest of the delegates moving through to dinner, interrupting whatever else Jeff was going to say. Jensen bit back a sigh. The thought of having to make more inane polite conversation where he second guessed every word – or worse, conversation that was completely ignored – made his stomach curdle unpleasantly. Like before, Jeff seemed to read his mind.

“Would you like a better view of the planet? There’s a viewing station on the next level up that I have the key to.” Jeff’s voice was full of suggestion. Jensen looked at the last of the guests disappearing into the next room. No one seemed to be looking for him. It wasn’t like this wasn’t mutual. Jeff was nowhere near his chain of command. And it had been too long since Jensen had seen any type of leave for R’n’R.

“Lead on.” 

 

The blue hue of the planet, reflecting the bright sun in the distance, filled the dark room with a soft glow of light. Jensen spent his time watching the swirl of currents, the ever-shifting, ever-changing way the surface never seemed to still. But his attention was drawn more and more to the man standing beside him.

There were plenty of myths about Begans. Some said that they were gen-mod humans, a forgotten colony. Jensen could believe that. Jeff looked human enough. The gills in his neck were closed at the moment, leaving his skin smooth. The rumoured webbed toes were hidden by his boots. He looked as human as any of Jensen’s friends and family. Yet there was something there, something that screamed other. Maybe it was the long pauses between breaths that Jensen had only noticed when he’d tried to match his own breathing to Jeff’s. Or the way he seemed to sway, slightly, as if being moved by eddies and tides too subtle for anyone else to notice. Jensen had met enough humanoid aliens to believe those who said that it was just parallel evolution. In the end he didn’t care, leaning close to hear Jeff’s explanations of what they were looking at.

Jensen had other reasons for leaning close. Contrary to his expectations, Jeff gave off warmth. He’d been expecting cold skin brushing against his bare forearm when Jeff leaned in to guide Jensen’s viewing. His brief touches sent goosebumps racing over Jensen’s skin regardless of the warmth. Jeff smiled in that lazy, half content half smirk way of his that let Jensen know he wasn’t blind to the effect he was having on Jensen and, equally, he wasn’t adverse to pursuing it.

It took effort to drag his full attention from the planet and use his own charms. He let his eyes drift down Jeff’s chest, hardship though it surely was, to allow himself to look up through the lashes. He’d been told often enough that his throwback green eyes were his most startling feature. That was often closely followed by his lips. Jensen dipped his tongue out, moistening his mouth, pleased when Jeff’s eyes were drawn to the movement, watching avidly while Jensen put himself square on to Jeff, straightening his shoulders to cock out his hips ever so slightly. Jeff’s hands flutter anxiously at his side for a moment before Jeff seemingly came to a decision and placed his arms on Jensen’s waist to draw him close. Jensen had to tip his head a little – something he approved of. He’d had shorter lovers – spacers tended to compact, wiry strength – but liked to feel just a little vulnerable, a little petite. He stifled a snort at the thought. He was, in no way, petite.

Jeff raised an eyebrow at him, a lazy smirk firmly in place. “Something funny?”

Jensen shook his head and tilted it just so. Then Jeff’s mouth was on his, driving any thoughts of tall, short, space, earth, up, down from his mind. Jensen parted his lips, eager to feel everything. He’d spent so long avoiding the ambassador on the way here that he’d had no real time to indulge himself and here was a man promising everything. Finally – finally – Jensen ran his hands under the sheer shirt, feeling Jeff’s smooth, surprisingly warm skin shuddered under his palms. It was good to know he was having as much effect on Jeff as Jeff was having on him. The brush of thigh confirmed it. Jeff’s hard length pressed against him, rock solid and eager.

It was hard to breathe. Jensen pulled back, looking behind him. He vaguely remembered a bench in the darkness at the back of the room. It was a broad cushion, designed for viewers of the planet below. It seemed like Jeff remembered the same bench as he walked backwards with Jensen, pushing him down and kissing him, tongue battling its way into Jensen’s mouth again. After running his hands over the breadth of Jeff’s shoulders, Jensen became eager for the feel of skin under his palms. He felt for the hem of Jeff’s shirt, pulling it up, feeling the rough gauzy material give under his hands. 

Jeff’s skin felt like any of Jensen’s other lovers. There were smooth muscles under the skin and through the touch, Jensen could feel the rise and fall of his chest, faster now as Jeff’s kisses became even more dominating, persistent. Hands fumbled at the fastenings to his own clothes and Jensen stopped grabbing at Jeff’s back to push him back and shuck his clothes. He cast around for slick, not liking to use spit although it would do in a pinch. Some people had taken on the experimental gen-mods that were technically illegal to make it easier but he was still a little reluctant and perhaps a little old fashioned. He liked his lovers to open him up, to take the time. It made the act more intimate somehow. 

Jeff seemed to know what he was about. He kept his eyes on Jensen, drinking in his nakedness, the way he spread his thighs. All the time he was pulling his own clothes off, efficient and driven. His final action was to pull a slender tube out of one of his pockets and carefully lay it beside Jensen’s side. Jeff seemed caught up, then, sweeping his eyes over Jensen from the very tips of his toes all the way up. Jeff wasn’t focused on his cock, his ass, his mouth. Instead he seemed to want all of Jensen, to own him, to possess him. And Jensen wasn’t about to say no. He spread his legs wider in invitation.

Then Jeff covered Jensen’s body with his own. The press of a naked body against his – something Jensen had gone too long without – made Jensen arch up, desperate for touch. He wrapped his hand around the back of Jeff’s neck to hold him close. “It’s been too long.” The words came out on a sigh. Jeff grinned that wicked lazy grin and kissed his way down Jensen’s chest, sucking a nipple to a stiff point and biting gently before moving down, snagging the slick on the way. He drove his finger into Jensen without teasing further, sucking the head of his cock into his mouth at the same time. The air seemed to punch out of Jensen’s lungs and he let out an inarticulate cry, hips lunging up out of control. Jeff took it in his stride, concentrating on driving Jensen wild with the continual tight suction of his mouth and the way his fingers corkscrewed in. It was like the man didn’t need to breath. Jensen looked more closely and saw the gills he thought he’d seen earlier flare as Jeff took him deeper. The loss of the fingers sent another anticipatory thrill through Jensen and he had to concentrate hard not to come as Jeff pulled off. Jensen was more than ready.

The press of Jeff’s cock inside him made Jensen let out a deep groan. He would have worried about the noise but since all the noise from the party had vanished the minute the door had sealed behind them, he guessed the sound proofing went both ways. Instead he kissed desperately at any skin he could reach, hands pulling and nails scratching. Jeff seemed to appreciate his enthusiasm, grin in place as he thrust in, aiming a kiss at Jensen’s mouth while he rolled his hips. Jensen could already feel the orgasm building in him, blue and overwhelming like the waves below. Jeff wasn’t pulling off, his strokes become wilder and faster. It was overwhelming. Jensen seemed to breathe in Jeff, his scent, his taste, the low pants and growls he was making. It was addictively intoxicating.

Jensen worked his hand between them, unable to hold back. He wanted this, wanted to give Jeff the feeling of him coming around him, squeezing his cock tight. Jeff approved, kissing Jensen deeply, driving his tongue into Jensen’s mouth, demanding and possessive. A series of sharp short jabs to Jensen’s prostate had him spilling over his hand, the moment followed by Jeff collapsing forward in his own climax. Jensen should have been embarrassed at the fact he hadn’t been able to hold out for longer, but Jeff didn’t seem to mind, licking and kissing his way up Jensen’s neck, his stubble almost painful but in the best kind of way.

They lay pressed together in a way that really should have been uncomfortable and mainly felt intimate and close. Jensen sought another one of those addictive kisses from Jeff before finally pushing him up. He really needed to shower now, clean the sweat and semen from his body but he was quite happy to seal up his clothes again. His hair – that was something of a lost cause. Jensen finger combed it, using the reflection in the window to settle it into some sort of order. Behind him, Jeff was performing his own version of clean up. In the end, though, he came up behind Jensen, who was looking out at the planet below again. 

“It’s really beautiful,” Jensen said, leaning back into Jeff’s embrace. Jeff hummed in agreement before kissing Jensen’s cheek.

“We better get back to the party. Before we’re missed. I need to speak to the ambassador.” Jeff made a face at that – reflected in the window – and Jensen laughed at it.

“You distract her. I’m going to have a long shower without worrying she’s going to find an excuse to come interrupt.” Jensen took advantage of Jeff’s open mouthed shock to press another kiss to his mouth. Jensen felt at once sated and ready for more. He let out a soft cry of protest when Jeff broke the kiss quite before Jensen was quite ready. He didn’t want this to end just yet.

But the way Jeff cupped Jensen’s cheek and promised, in a low dark voice, “I will,” made all of Jensen’s annoyance fade away.

 

Jensen’s annoyance was back in full force a week later. The negotiations were dragging on and every evening he had to seal himself into his dress uniform and dance attendance on a group of people with an ever diminishing bank of small talk. The representatives from the different mining companies hoping to gain access to the planet’s untapped deposits of ore and minerals seemed obsessed with talking shop and Jensen was sure he was going to beat his head off the table if he had to listen to another conversation about drills. He hadn’t even had the chance to exchange more than a polite smile with Jeff across the crowded room. Jensen had resorted to plundering his tales of growing up to provide yet another topic of conversation of the rapidly chilling soup when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up into Jeff’s lazy grin. “Could I borrow you for a moment?”

Jensen made his excuses to the table. He knew he was giving them something else to gossip about at least as he followed Jeff into the ante-room. There were other people drifting past here, lucky enough to not be seated at the formal dinner, but listening and watching just the same. The mood didn’t seem conducive to carrying on with their previous activities, so Jensen stood at ease and waited for Jeff to speak. 

“The negotiations are probably going to wrap up soon,” Jeff began. Jensen nodded non-committedly. He didn’t think they were anywhere near finished. “The mineral rights concessions are going to be resolved-“ Jeff shook his head, obviously deep in thought. Then he looked at Jensen, fixing him with a penetrating stare. Jeff opened his eyes up all the way and Jensen shifted uncomfortably, wondering exactly what he was looking for. If nothing else, the power in the gaze made the hairs on the back of Jensen’s neck stand up. Then Jeff relaxed, shifted to a pose of studied ease. “One of the stipulations on the part of your government is going to be a group of observers from the Corps. I’d like you to consider volunteering.”

Jensen sat down on one of the couches arranged around the room. He watched Jeff carefully. The way he spoke hinted at more than an interest or even a full role in the negotiations on behalf of Delta Bega. It sounded as if… “Who are you?” Jensen tried to keep the wondering out of his voice and make it brusque and to the point.

Jeff scratched the back of his neck. “Head of the negotiators.” He seemed a little shame faced when he admitted to it. Then he became serious. “I wasn’t going to use my status to force you into my… bed. Not like Madam Ambassador in there.”

“Into your viewing room, you mean.” Jensen’s brain flickered through a huge range of scenarios where what he and Jeff had quite consensually done might impact on the outcome of the negotiations. That was coming close to breaking some of the Corps most stringent regulations. Perhaps he’d be best to walk away right now and pretend he’d never spoken to Jeff, let alone fucked him on such short acquaintance. One look at the man seemed to drive that thought from his head. “Why me?” was the only question Jensen could think to ask.

“Because you’re honest. Because you don’t let rank cow you into doing what you don’t want.” Jeff listed off the reasons on his fingers. “Because I trust you. You have something you could hold over me, demand concessions with. Instead you chose enjoyment, pleasure and connection. I respect a man who does that.”

Jensen shrugged the praise away. Jeff’s offer had him thinking. He had escaped into space straight out of the limited opportunities college education offered on his planet. Everything he’d done was to climb up the ranks of the Space Corps, battling against spacers from planets that habitually worked in non-atmosphere environments, asteroid brats and even military types whose time in space was nothing more than strapping in and looking good with a gun. His dirtball didn’t send that many people off world, let alone into Space Corps. He’d worked to get where he was and he didn’t see how a sojourn on a planet would help keep him in space.

Yet. Jeff’s offer had him thinking, his mind whirling. Being part of a diplomatic mission would definitely help with his next promotion. He’d reached the stage where hanging around long enough wouldn’t result in automatic advancement anymore. In fact, his next step was probably to a small command and he would need some political friends to help with that. If he’d been twisted enough to sleep with the ambassador, there would possibly have been an advantage he could use there. Sometimes Jensen was a bit too honourable for his own good. He couldn’t put sleeping with Jeff into the same category. That had been about mutual attraction.

There was another advantage. Jensen was probably another year from planetfall and for all that he loved space, he wanted to breathe non-processed air at some point. Then he frowned. “But I can’t breathe underwater.”

Jeff laughed, a low, dirty chuckle that sent a warm burn through Jensen. “You can hold your breath for quite a long time, though.” Jensen threw him a grin that was more of a twisted frown. He couldn’t forget the listening ears. “We have temporary gen mod that’ll give you the ability. Or you can use breathers. The miners are going to use a combination of both. That’s my impression from the negotiations. And-” Jeff looked around. There were still a few people about but they seemed to be ignoring their quiet conversation. “Padalecki Mining is probably going to be the main contractor for your government. Their head of expedition knows you.”

The noise from the dining hall swelled, suggesting that dinner was in the process of being served. “If they offer it-“ Jensen didn’t feel comfortable making a firm promise. He had to look at all his options. Jeff was right though. He did know – and more importantly trust – Jared Padalecki. He’d met Jared during one of the interminable evenings on ship and they’d found a mutual interest in old horror vids to share on the voyage out. Jared had even waylaid the ambassador for him a few times. The guy was smart – brighter than Jensen for sure – but he didn’t flaunt it like some people might. He used his big smile and even bigger eyes to appear harmless while, no doubt, cataloguing and planning behind the scenes. But the guy was also good company, right enough. That didn’t seem like a foundation for a successful working partnership though. And, in addition, Jensen shouldn’t be swayed by the suddenly pleased look on Jeff’s face.

 

In the end, Jensen’s decision was less of a choice and more of an order. “I need you to take this assignment, Ackles.” The captain had the type of expression that Jensen’s mother would have called sucking lemons. For all that Jensen did his job efficiently enough – manning the comms and ensuring that everything was in order, Captain Benning had never really warmed to him. Jensen had heard a rumour that the captain wanted another officer for his first lieutenant and there had been a bit of a fracas at HQ. He never mentioned it and kept his head down. But somehow there were always little niggling doubts.

The look from the captain was a little pleased now, somewhat smug. “Ambassador Gamble is becoming oddly insistent. If I didn’t know you any better, I would have thought you’d encouraged her somewhat.” Jensen shook his head. “I think you’re ready for this type of mission. Keep the natives happy and make sure the miners don’t overstep their bounds. It helps that the folk are civilized enough.”

Jensen rocked on his heels. He’d heard tell of some alien encounters that had more in common with those bad horror vids than anything else that ever been dreamed up. But to hear such plain, blunt prejudice from his captain? Jensen was suddenly a little glad to be heading off the ship if the Captain was acting like this. If it got out... Jensen had found that crews were hung along with their captains more often than not. The Captain wasn’t quite finished yet. “The head of the Mining Corporation delegation is also a decent sort. Younger son of the owner – Padalecki. He’s about your age.”

The captain was pulling out all the stops to persuade Jensen. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than to get off this ship and clear his head. He was becoming paranoid. Jensen nodded. “I’ll do it.”

 

That was when the whirlwind began. Jensen was fitted for clothing, underwent one of the most complete medicals he’d ever undergone and was packed and on the shuttle before he had time to rethink. He’d sent messages to his parents and to Chris to let them know about his change in circumstances and explain where he’d be. He’d been assured that the station would transfer replies to him as soon as he was settled. Jensen strapped himself in, a mixture of anxiety and anticipation churning unpleasantly in his stomach. 

He met the rest of the Central Worlds group then. There were twelve other people coming with Jensen – he was unlucky thirteen, an ancient superstition. Jared himself was coming to the surface – Jensen had half expected him to stay on station - and he greeted Jensen with a cheerful grin. His assistant, a petite woman with long dark hair, was equally at ease. There were also another couple of ship folk who were half Jensen’s staff and half spies. He knew one of them vaguely – Benedict, one of the other musicians on the crew. The other girl he only recognised in passing. She was an engineer and tended to stick to the engine area like her fellow workers. She’d nodded at Jensen and introduced herself as Tal. Jensen shook her hand but evaded the conversation she’d attempted to start. Jared actually looked queasy when the shuttle lifted off but Jensen was used to the shifting gravities of the shuttle. He had transitioned between planets and ships (and ships and ships) more times than he could count after all. Some of the miners with him were also similarly experienced. They’d untangled the straps almost as quickly as Jensen himself had.

Jensen looked out of the tiny porthole at the swollen watery world below. The variegated swirls of the currents seemed even more vivid as the shuttle drew nearer, a swift orbit before heading for a piece of land that was almost too small to be seen from space. The shuttle could land on a credit and Jensen threw thumbs up as the pilot neatly placed them exactly where they were supposed to go.

All planets smelled different, no matter how similar they were to each other. Jensen drew in a deep, satisfying breath of Delta Bega’s atmosphere and parsed through its constituents. There was a salty brine, a clean crisp dampness to the air. It was fresh. Jensen certainly preferred it to the heavy floral atmosphere of Drummond that had made him sneeze for a week. There was a small building, low and white, at the edge of the shuttle pad and Jensen led his group over to it, sensing the array of people standing in front were probably some kind of welcoming committee. As he came closer, he recognised Jeff at the centre. He was different, somehow. Maybe it was the way he was standing – there was no slouch, no relaxation about his posture. He was commanding and Jensen felt his dick stir at the sight. He was a fan of men who took charge after all.

Jensen stopped a few feet away and looked at the other people facing him. They were all similar build-wise – slender and relatively tall, with sleek muscles. There was a woman with red hair curling to her waist, an unusual burst of colour against the black and brown of the others. They were all relatively pale too, like they didn’t see the sun often enough. And now he knew what to look for, Jensen could see the tell-tale signs of gills on their throats. They all wore skin-tight clothing, made of some material that looked sleek and wet even in the cloudy sunshine of the surface. Jensen resisted the urge to bow.

Jeff pasted a smile over his stern expression and nodded in welcome. But it was the woman beside him who spoke, dignified and formal. “Hello. Welcome to Delta Bega.”

Jensen looked around. Other than this flat piece of land, all he could see was ocean. He stepped forward – technically Jared was in charge, he supposed, being as he was the leader of the miners, but Jensen was the principal liaison between the two groups which made him their spokesperson, he guessed – and thanked her. Awkward silence resumed as the two groups eyed each other up. Jensen thought he could cut the tension with a laser blade.

“So-“ Jared broke in, rubbing his hands together. “Time for us to get all fishy.” He was trying to ease the group into it, but Jensen felt like punching him as he saw the offended stiffening from the men opposite. Luckily, Jeff seemed to get the joke.

“Some of you opted for breathers – I’ll get you set up. Those who were having the mod patch, go with Orla, here.” The group split and Jensen followed the woman into the small white building. It looked to be made of extruded panels, although it certainly had been here some time as the base was covered in a mossy growth, concealing any maker’s marks Jensen might have been familiar with. He supposed if he had been a historian, he might be more interested in the inhabitant’s origins. But at the end of the day, he was here for business. 

The facility inside didn’t look old. It also didn’t look like it was frequently used. A pristine, empty room that could only be a waiting room was empty of the usual detritus of pamphlets and transparencies that were normally found in such places. Even the space station, out of the way as it was, had posters advertising events and services. This was bare. The walls were antiseptic white and the seats bare metal. This was totally functional and totally without humanity. Nerves started churning in Jensen’s stomach as he settled into the seat. He could hear the miners who had opted for breathers – the majority of the group – behind the partition wall and suddenly wished to join them.

The woman – Orla – eyed them rather arrogantly. “Your mod patch will give you gills and some protection from the water. It is not as full an adaptation as we have.” She appeared to close her eyes and Jensen saw that a thin membrane covered her eyes when she lifted her eyelids. “We have the eye protection and some of us even have skin covering-“ Here she peeled up her top to show off the group of iridescent scales trailing down her back below the waistline of her pants. Jensen found himself wondering if Jeff had them – he’d been too focused on his lips and cock to really pay attention. The memory warmed him – not matter how arrogant a show these people put on, they were as given to warm blooded impulses as any species. “Do not stare, do not comment and do not touch,” she concluded.

There was a murmur of agreeable promises from the group and she nodded, seemingly satisfied. Jensen stood up when she gestured at the doorway through to what seemed to be a standard med facility. Horror stories of gen mods gone wrong, from the childhood tales he and his friends had exchanged at sleepovers, were firmly ignored as he walked in. He hadn’t taken on a patch before, although some of his friends had chosen to take that route to pass exams in college. They were still borderline illegal in the Central Worlds after all. Jensen lay on the couch she indicated and closed his eyes and worked through spatial equations in his head. There was a soft hiss and a sharp pinch and a gentle lassitude took over his body. Jensen relaxed into it, not fighting the pull of sleep. He could do this. There was nothing to be afraid…

 

He woke in darkness. His breathing seemed loud, echoing. He was encased, trapped. His hands shot out and found the confines of the box he was in. A coffin? A casket? Had he been buried alive? Light flooded through a clear plate in the roof of the box and Orla’s face appeared framed in it.

“You had a bad reaction.” Her voice was muffled by the plastic but Jensen gathered himself to listen. “The med box predicts you will be fine. You need to sleep and remain calm.” That was easier said than done, Jensen thought. The light went off and he was alone again. He took deep breaths, counting them in and out and his pounding heart slowed and quietened. It was then that he realised he was completely immersed in water. He could taste it, sharp and clean, the taint of salt adding warmth rather than making him thirsty. He waved his hands through the water, enjoying the sensation against his skin. He was almost tempted to poke at his face, at his throat to feel if he had grown gills. Instead he became aware of a different taste in the water. More drugs, was his last remembered conscious thought before he slipped into the deeper darkness of sleep once more. 

 

Jensen was wearing clothes when he woke again. He was still in water but no longer in the coffin of the med box. Instead he was in what he could charitably call a bed for all he was wrapped in a sleep sack. He seemed to be in a rock niche, carved into the wall, with a thin mattress underneath him and his head resting on a pillow. The shift of water against his face was what had woken him. Jensen looked around for the source and relaxed as Jeff entered the room. The man he had known on the station was equally, if not more, at ease here, moving from surface to surface, opening closet doors and drawing out his own clothing. At least, Jensen presumed that the metal doors in the rock led to closets.

“Hello.” Jensen tried to speak and was happy that the sound seemed to still work. Jeff jerked around, startled. Then he came closer. His easy gait was a strange mix of swimming, walking and gliding through the water and Jensen wondered if he would look anything similar when he got onto his feet. Jeff didn’t look entirely comfortably though, as he arranged himself at Jensen’s side.

“How’re you, now?” Jeff looked a little anxious as if he was dreading the answer. Jensen didn’t really know what to say. He wriggled his toes and was relieved they seemed to be working. He could still feel the lethargic remnants of the drug in his system, making him want to drift off again or beg for some coffee or whatever the local stimulant was. Jensen was adaptable, so long as there was caffeine for him. His muscles ached all over and he wanted to either stretch or just float there a little longer.

Honesty remained the best answer. “Sleepy. Worn out. In need of coffee.”

Jeff laughed at that before stroking his hand over Jensen’s face. The tender gesture highlighted that perhaps Jensen had been out longer than he really should have been. “How long was I asleep?”

“Seven days,” Jeff answered, before smoothing Jensen’s hair back into his usual cropped style. “Let me go get you something to drink.”

Jensen wondered why he needed something to drink when he was surrounded by water but he ignored that, looking around the room he was in instead. It didn’t feel like he was in guest quarters. There were signs that this was someone’s home all around, from the decorative patterned rug on the floor to the images – photographs and pictures of people and places alongside some abstract artworks. The walls were hewn rock – perhaps this had been a natural cave that had been extended to make a dwelling. There were lights hidden in the crevices of the rock, giving off a soft glow. And they were completely underwater.

Jensen rolled onto his back, drawing his hands free of the sleep sack. They didn’t look any different, or feel any different. He ran his hands over his neck, finally becoming aware of the gills under his fingertips. They were operating as naturally as his lungs had. Jensen wondered if this meant he would always be able to survive underwater, remembering swimming races with his friends and with his brother and his friends. A certain childish glee ran through him. Then Jensen looked at his hands again. He could see the bones more clearly than he’d been able to a week ago. He lifted up the mouth of the sack to look down the length of his body. He still didn’t feel massively different. He could try working his way out.

Jeff returned before Jensen started to move and he hurried to the bedside, using a protuberance of rock wall the spur himself faster. “Don’t move. Not yet. The doc hasn’t quite cleared you.” Jensen settled back onto the bed. The pillow under his head was quite comfortable despite the fact it was attached to the mattress. Jeff handed over a strange drinking container. Not a mug but closer to the type of containers that Jensen had seen those who worked in Zero Gee use. It made sense. Underwater was nearly the same as being weightless, although there seemed to be a stronger pull of gravity than he’d been accustomed to on ship. He hadn’t noticed that when they’d landed. Jensen tried to put all thoughts of physics out of his head while he sipped at the narrow mouthpiece. It was coffee. Delicious, warming, caffeinated coffee.

“But the doc’ll clear me for this,” Jensen told Jeff, hugging the cup closer. He drew in another mouthful, relishing the bitter burn.

“Let’s not tell him.” Jeff looked a little guilty before his face broke into one of those lazy, intimate smiles. Jensen was sure he might be blushing at little at that knowing, conspiratorial look. Jeff turned around, stripping off his top with a casual ease that made Jensen not want to look away, not want to offer the illusion of privacy. Instead he watched the flex and bunch of Jeff’s body, enjoying the sight. There were scales – pale and faintly shimmering – gathered at the base of Jeff’s spine. Jensen saw more as Jeff pulled down his pants as well. It was hard for Jensen not to let out a low whistle as he enjoyed the sight. Warmth pooled low in his belly. Maybe he and Jeff could enjoy a repeat of their encounter on the station. But there was also something tender in the casual lack of inhibition Jeff was showing. He trusted Jensen and Jensen vowed not to do anything to lose that.

Jeff grabbed the clothes he’d retrieved earlier. They looked bulkier than his sleek black. Indeed, Jensen could see that they were more ornate. They were certainly more colourful – green and blue swirls. There were jewels (or what Jensen presumed were jewels. They certainly sparkled) attached to the ends of the sleeves and around the waistband of the pants. The front was split low to reveal Jeff’s strong chest and the pants hugged his ass in a way Jensen definitely approved of.

Jeff looked in a mirror before turning to Jensen. “I feel like a fucking prat.” Jensen couldn’t contain the laugh. Yeah. Jeff was not the type to enjoy the florid, elaborate effect. Jensen would have hated it himself. “It’s traditional,” Jeff defended before laughing himself.

“Why are you all dressed up?” Jensen asked when he’d calmed down. Jeff came to sit beside Jensen on the bed once more. From here, Jensen could see the carvings on the gems. They were not entirely abstract and seemed to depict people and fish. Jensen traced his finger over one daringly.

“Welcome banquet. Now you are more likely to survive, Orla thought it would be best to give a formal feast.” The face Jeff pulled displayed his lack of comfort at the idea. “She likes all the pomp and ceremony and I suppose it has been a long time since outsiders really visited our world. Normally we keep the exchanges brief and on the surface.”

Jensen started to wriggle out of his cocoon again but Jeff stopped him. “And I don’t get to come?”

“It’s going to be boring and no. Rest up. If you’re good…” Jeff trailed off and Jensen raised his eyebrow. He hoped the promise might have something fun in it for him. “I’ll let Jared in to see you.”

Jensen scowled at that. Not that he didn’t want to _not_ see Jared. He needed to know what had been happening and he didn’t think Jeff would be the one to tell him. The façade of light-hearted flirting dropped from Jeff’s demeanour as Orla came into the room. There was a door, an ancient battered piece of metal, and it opened smoothly under her hand.

“It’s time,” she told Jeff. “Finish getting dressed.” There was an edge to her voice but Jensen couldn’t quite work it out. She seemed annoyed at something. Before Jeff had time to answer, she swept out of the room again. It was then that Jensen realised she’d been dressed just like Jeff. Maybe all the natives of Delta Bega wore these elaborate suits as ceremonial clothing.

Jeff was still frowning as he got to his feet and headed to the box on top of one of his dressers. He flipped it open and took a circlet out. Jensen stared in bemusement as Jeff settled it onto his dark, tousled hair. A sinking feeling in his stomach made him tear his eyes away.

“You’re not just head of the delegation, right?” Jensen’s words definitely had a bitter undercurrent. “Who’s Orla, really?”

“She’s the Queen, I guess. And my wife.” Jeff kept his eyes on Jensen but Jensen ignored him, rolling over to face the wall again. He heard – or felt – Jeff leave him alone.

Jensen must have fallen asleep in the middle of his recriminations because he woke to someone shaking his shoulder. He looked up to see Jared smiling hesitantly down at him. Jared had obviously not struggled with his mod as he looked perfectly comfortable breathing through the water. Jensen nodded at him.

“Have we been assigned quarters?” Jensen kept his voice quiet.

“Yeah. But you’re still under orders not to move. I just wanted to check in on you.” Jared settled himself more comfortably on the bed. He looked around the quarters and let out a slow whistle. “Not what I’d have expected from their king.”

Jensen squirmed a little at that. He had a few rules when it came to sex but number one was no cheating. He wasn’t going to indulge in or enable that kind of behaviour. He didn’t trust people who cheated – never had after one of his earliest girlfriends had thought they weren’t serious and as a result Jensen had to seek treatment for a really embarrassing rash. It was made even worse by Jeff being in such a position of authority and also, apparently, keeping Jensen like some courtesan in his own quarters while he was off gallivanting around banquets being all kingly. Jensen wasn’t happy. 

Then there was the problem of what the Corps would do if they found out. Bad enough Jensen might have impacted on the trade delegation. But to possibly be the cause of problems between the Began rulers? There were definitely regs that covered that and Jensen knew if anyone found out… Being court martialed would be the least of his problems.

Luckily, Jared seemed to just think that Jensen’s uncomfortable silence was a result of his lingering sickness. He decided to talk about all the other things that had been happening. Like the hilarity of miners becoming accustomed to life underwater.

Jensen was glad Jared seemed to still regard him as a friend and ally. At least, he sought Jensen’s advice about how to ask for less seafood in their diet. It was easy being in Jared’s company. They both knew where the lines of friendship and professionalism were. And Jared was just fascinated by these merpeople.

Jensen had snorted at that. He’d been repressing the childhood tales of mermaids that his mother told. In the stories, of course, they’d been half-fish and had been unable to walk on land. Other than that, Jensen thought, these Begans were pretty much what the tales told.

Jeff came in as Jared was recounting the tale of how one of the miners had attempted to sleep without fastening himself down. “People who used to work in Zero Gee should know better.”

Jeff nodded at them, throwing the circlet off his head into the box before drifting nearer. Jared looked a little uncomfortable at that. “I’ll just head on. See you tomorrow, Jensen?” The statement was more of a question. Jensen had the sudden realisation that Jared was somewhat in awe of Jeff. There must have been a part of Jeff that he presented to outsiders that Jensen was either immune to or not subject to. Indeed, as Jared swam out with a final wave, Jeff seemed to slump, to grow smaller.

“Was it a good banquet?” Jensen asked, viciously watching Jeff strip off. It was like rubbing spikes over his arm, some form of penance, to see that broad chest and those muscular arms that could hold him just right but were now strictly off limits.

Jeff hummed non-committedly before ducking through another door. He came out a few moments later in soft, sleek shorts. Then he drew a sleep sack from under the rock ledge and laid it out on the floor. “Goodnight, Jensen.”

Jeff clapped his hands and the lights dimmed almost completely. Jensen didn’t know what was worse – having Jeff ignore him or helping him commit adultery. Jensen lay awake in the soft light, watching the tense line of Jeff’s shoulders for a long time. Jensen must have fallen asleep before he did though, because there was no relaxation in Jeff’s posture.

 

Jared was back the next morning, carrying a box that Jensen hoped contained food. His stomach had awoken him by rumbling with a vengeance. Sadly, Jeff had already left. Jensen may have thought he felt okay yesterday but he could tell the difference now. He was able to push himself to seated and scoff down the fruit and cake slice that Jared passed him. Jensen had even stopped thinking of everything as waterlogged. It just tasted like it had been passed through air.

Refreshed, he’d slipped out of the sleep sack and into the clothes Jared had brought for him, following Jared’s inane babble with half an ear. It turned out that the miners who had chosen breathers ended up having to commute from the tiny surface barracks in order to eat and Jared was worried that it was losing the company too much time. Jensen wondered if he could see about getting an air-locked dome down here, for more permanent air breather habitation but before he could mention it to Jared, Orla came into the room followed by a stranger. The stranger’s face was a thousand times more welcoming than Orla’s frosty glare.

“Ready to move to your own quarters?” The man – obviously a doctor from the way he pulled a scanner from his pocket and ran it over Jensen – adopted a falsely bright tone. Jensen nodded and tried to stand up. Luckily Jared grabbed one arm and the doctor another as he began to fall. “We’ve got a medvac vehicle for you, don’t worry.”

Jensen thanked them and was half dragged, half carried out into the real world.

 

The medvac had big enough windows for Jensen to watch the world from as they trundled along. It turned out that the room he’d been in was part of an enormous complex that only got more richly decorated as they nearer the exit. It was a busy place, full of official looking types running (swimming) around with stacks of commpads and earpieces firmly in place. The odd contrast between modern and unbelievably old-fashioned only became even more surreal when Jensen realised his transportation was little more than a cart drawn by two enormous fishy creatures. He would have called them whales, he supposed, or sharks. But when Jared closed the doors and settled back, the whole contraption took off without as much as a starting jolt.

The people of Delta Bega looked to lead as boring, ordinary lives as anyone on any of the planets Jensen had ever visited. There were parents corralling groups of children, older kids hanging around together. Someone picking rubbish out of the water with long handled pinchers. The insane domesticity of it all made Jensen’s head swirl. He saw other vehicles like the one he rode in as well as handheld scooter types that seemed to run on a more electrical basis than his organic one. Jared was quiet now, taking in the vast and silent world outside the window. It was just like the town Jensen had grown up in but it was the differences that made it so alien from anything he’d seen before: the way up and down were as viable an option for direction as left and right; the flutter of gills and the occasional flash of scales. The fact he was in a carriage pulled by fish…

They finally pulled up outside something that mimicked the other buildings that had fastened onto rock spires but was distinctly newer. Shiny metal doors instead of old tarnished ones, windows regularly placed and not dictated by the curves and bumps of natural rock. Even so, the Begans had chosen to try to make this constructed tower as similar to the older style as they could. It suggested that they respected their past, their traditions. Jensen could appreciate that, as he had been brought up on a planet that clung to traditions. But he’d thought it hidebound and old-fashioned, short-sighted even back at home. Here, he almost appreciated the fact that the builders had chosen to mimic the tall spires of rock that wound up from the ocean floor towards the surface.

“Bit different from the palace,” Jared said. He was apparently making some kind of joke because his face was fixed in a huge grin.

“What?” Jensen didn’t return the smile. “The palace?”

“You really have been out of it. Jeff – the head negotiator guy – is like some kind of ruler. He’s called King but it’s more democratic than that. Elected. But he insisted on you staying with them – him – until they knew for sure whether you were going to… make the transition.” Jared trailed off rather tamely, looking guilty.

“Whether I was going to die or not.” Jensen had learned not to sugar coat anything. It led to misunderstandings and a too sympathetic attitude to death. “I knew the risks.”

“Well.” Jared floundered for a moment. “Do you want to see your glamorous new quarters?” He soon regained his natural ebullience, pointing out common areas and where everyone else had set up. Since it was what Jensen realised was the middle of the day, the miners were out doing mining things. He had only a vague understanding of what their job entailed: there was a lot of measuring and then the serious work would begin from what he could gather.

His own aides seemed relieved to see him. They were lost behind the boxes and crates that had been sent down with them. There were personnel records and survey reports and a veritable cornucopia of treaties and law books. Jensen wasn't expected to be an expert on any of the nuances of the agreement that had brought them here - he had enough communication gear to be able to broadcast across half the galaxy if he put his mind to it. On the other hand, he needed to know enough to be able to deal with any local disputes swiftly and without too much antipathy on either side. His team had made a start at unpacking but Jensen knew there would be a long job ahead of them all to get fully settled.

Jared let him spend a few minutes checking that the comms were established before tugging him along the corridor. "I saved the third best quarters for you."

"Third best? Do I want to know?" Jensen found himself looking forward to settling down again. His muscles were starting to ache with the effort of keeping up with Jared and he was almost ashamed to admit to himself that he could do with a nap.

"I gave Gen the best ones." Jared coloured at that. Then he smirked. "And the adjoining ones for myself."

"Something you want to share?" Jensen drawled, relieved to see a panel reading his name next to a door around the last bend. “She assisting you in more ways than one?”

"No. Maybe. It's kinda new." Jared almost floated past the door and had to grab for one of the handholds planted at regular intervals on the walls. Otherwise the walls were a plain cream and wouldn't have looked out of place on a space station or any industrial complex on any civilised planet. Then again, Jensen wouldn't be seeing the ever present ebb and flow of water currents if he was on either of them.

Jared pushed the door open and Jensen could see the sole duffel he'd brought with him lying on the sofa that seemed to take up one wall of the first room. There was a vid screen opposite it and Jensen wondered what kind of shows they got down here. He floated through the room to a tiny kitchenette hidden in an alcove. It seemed well enough stocked despite Jared's insistence that they all ate communally. To the other side was a bathroom and a bedroom behind separate doors. For all that it was basic, it was still bigger than his last three sets of quarters on ship and just about the same size as the apartment he'd rented during his Academy days.

"Nice," Jensen allowed, drifting back to the main room after his tour of inspection. Jared was hovering uncertainly in the doorway. "What's next?"

"The door works on some kind of palm thing. You need to come here and set the lock." Jared pointed to the door. "Then you can go lie down."

"What? I've got work to do." Jensen's protestation was somewhat ruined by letting out a bone wrenching yawn.

"Uh huh." Jared crossed his arms and Jensen saw a little of the steel that he had known must lie underneath his friendly puppy dog exterior. A person didn't get to be one of the more successful managers of a multi-stellar corporation without a certain amount of ruthlessness no matter the nepotistic advantage. Jensen rather meekly pressed his hand against the plate until it glowed green and beeped and then he turned to the duffel and lifted it towards him.

"I'll unpack - and nap," Jensen added, at Jared's pointed look. "But we should meet. I've missed a lot while I've been asleep."

"Dinner tonight." Jared was already closing the door behind him. Jensen let him go without complaint. He stood for a couple more minutes in the middle of the suddenly larger space and looked around. He should unpack the duffel. There were thin drawers underneath the vid screen for his essentials and he'd seen similar arrangements in the bedroom from his quick peek earlier. But the will to do anything drained from him with the last of his energy.

Jensen propelled himself through to the bedroom, tugging open the sleep sack that lay along the ledge that was apparently what constituted a bed around here. There was a rail around it, presumably to stop him rolling off and Jensen held onto it gratefully while he stripped off his clothing. For all his mind was racing, his body seemed eager to drag it into unconsciousness once more.

 

Jensen awoke to an unfamiliar beeping chime. It took him a moment to work out that it was the door chime. What finally clued him into that was the battering on the outside of the door and the way Jared was shouting his name through it. "I'm coming!" Jensen yelled in response.

He slammed the door released before he remembered he had undressed to his underwear earlier. That caused a moment where the presence of Genevieve outside was something of an awkward moment. Jensen hid himself behind the door and glared at Jared. 

Jared shrugged. "We'll meet you in the commissary?" Gen hit him with the kind of gentle punch that suggested an accommodation and a definite lack of respect for her nominal boss.

Jensen thought for a moment. He could probably remember the general direction from the tour he'd had earlier. "Give me five." Jared waved and swam off down the corridor, using the handholds to pull himself along. Gen was more circumspect, her long dark hair floating behind as she waved her arms and walked as normally as she could. Jensen let the door close.

Manoeuvring the more modern arrangement of toilet facilities in the tiny bathroom caused something of an unexpected delay. It felt ridiculous to wash his face but Jensen wasn't about to pee in the water he was breathing. He thought back rather abashedly to the days he'd let go in the swimming hole near his house. At least there hadn't been people living there as far as he knew. Redressing left him feeling a little wobbly again and Jensen had to sit and gather his strength for a moment before heading out for whatever treats Jared had prepared.

 

They were left alone by the others at one end of a long table. In fact, the others ate quickly and headed out into the lounge where a big vid screen covered most of one wall. The noise of some kind of sports match filtered through the archway.

"It's like this mix of basketball, water polo and Zero Gee ball," Jared explained. “It’s called D-Ball”. Jensen thought he should probably stop flapping his hands around in the air trying to describe everything. It must use up an incredible amount of energy.

"Sounds good," Jensen ventured.

"We've all become fans," Genevieve put in, her dry rasping tones carrying to Jensen and Jared's ears only. "And it gives us cover for our conversation."

"We're being bugged?" Jensen asked. He'd expected it. They were representatives of a foreign government after all. And for all that the Central Worlds were generally peaceful, they did maintain a military arm for more than protection against the odd pirate. He wouldn't trust them either. "We can probably speak in the clear, though. There's nothing to hide, yet."

Jared and Gen shared a look. Gen shrugged and Jared shook his head. "At the moment. Let's just develop some bad habits just in case."

Jensen nodded. It was time for answers. He’d have to report to the station in the morning, after all. The Corps would want him to account for his illness. "What happened then?"

Gen sat back and gestured to Jared, letting him pick up the conversation. "It's been strange. The way you reacted to the gen mod was completely unexpected and drove them out of their minds just about. They scanned us all, repeatedly, in case any of us were undergoing anything similar but it turns out that you're a special unique snowflake after all." Jensen sneered at Jared.

"What's so special? Other than this tiredness and the fact I was out for a week." Jensen needed more information. He'd been asleep after all.

"Nothing happened at first. We all underwent the patch. Jaze went the breather route so he came and watched - they said it was okay. We were all pretty much under when you started thrashing like you couldn't breathe. There was a lot of shouting and the doctor waved one of those scanning things-" 

"A scanner," Jensen interrupted Jared's breathless retelling of the tale. It was time for Jared to sneer at him then.

"Then they plopped you into this big fish tank and covered you in. There were hoses and pipes and all sorts of bleeping lights on it." Jared was still waving his hands around, drawing a box in the air, leaving little trails of bubbles in the wake of his hands.

"I can remember waking in that. It was like a coffin." A chill went up his spine at the remembrance.

"I can see that. We thought you were done for by the way all the doctors were running around. And the screeching from Orla! She's got a real good pair of lungs on her." Jared paused to check they were all alone once more. He covered it with a sip of the thankfully present coffee. It was a little bitter but perfectly palatable to Jensen. Jared screwed his face up.

"What happened next?" Jensen prompted quietly when Jared didn't seem inclined to continue. 

Genevieve picked up the story. "Jeff came in and took charge. He said we all had to come to the palace and unplugged you from the machine. He carried you to the - I don't know - submarine, I suppose. Truck? Anyway. Every moment you were touching him you seemed better. I saw your gills basically finish growing in when he touched your neck. And then there was the scales." Gen gave a ladylike shudder at that.

"What?" Jensen couldn't stay silent at that. He spun in his seat as if he could look at his back from where he was sitting.

"Check them out later." That was Jared. "You got a nice set though. The mod patch seems to have done a right number on you."

"You're basically a perfect adaptation," Gen interrupted. "But it needed Jeff to make it complete. And that's-"

"Weird." Jared finished off her sentence. "Freaky."

"Unprecedented, from what I've been able to glean." Gen hit Jared again, with one firm punch. Jensen ducked his head to hide his smile. This pair were perfectly matched. It made Jensen think about the way he'd basically melted into Jeff's arms back on the space station. Normally he needed a lot of flirting and alcohol to reach that stage. He flushed a little at his slutty eagerness and his stomach continued to churn as he remembered the precarious position his desperation had put him in. 

"Jeff didn't leave your side, basically, until you were able to cope by yourself. You're going to need another couple of days to perfect it, they say. Then you'll be a perfect little mermaid." Jared apparently couldn't resist the tease, although he didn't sound bitter or judgemental.

"That's-" Jensen didn't know how to sum it up.

"It's a lot to think about. But I don't think temporary is going to be the word to describe your gen mod, Jensen." Genevieve was the one to sound pitying. Her voice dipped into the lowest registers to match the sinking feeling in Jensen’s stomach.

The urge to run screaming from the room passed quickly. For one thing, Jensen was too tired. "Okay. What's been happening with the mining? Are the mineral deposits what you were hoping for?"

Jared's enthusiastic description of the fact that the deposits were better and bigger than the scanners had suggested took Jensen's mind off his own problems. He started wondering how to phrase the news so as not to start a rush with his report. Gen shot him the odd worrying glance as he started taking notes on his old handheld when Jared talked about equipment and coring. That was another field he'd need to read up on. Jensen was going to be doing just as much studying as he'd ever done in the Academy to keep abreast of what was happening here.

He let Jared and Gen walk him back to his quarters, mainly because he didn't think he could make it on his own. The tiredness had slammed into him as the game in the common room had come to an end to the cheers of some and the curses of others. He'd need to also work out what was happening with it in order to fit in. That was part of his role. Make friends. Influence people.

His exhaustion didn’t stop him twisting in front of the mirror when he stripped off his clothes. Sure enough, starting just below his shoulder blades, a thin trail of iridescent scales dipped down, past the small of his back and over the top of his ass. Jensen expected he’d want to scrape them off until his skin was bloodied and plain but they looked like they belonged there. The skin didn’t feel rough or patchy under his stretched fingertips. Actually, if the light wasn’t shining onto them just so, Jensen could almost think his skin was unmarked. He twisted in the water and they seemed to make the movement easier. The water flowed over his back with less friction than he’d experienced with his clothing.

Jensen drew his underwear back on and collapsed on the bed. He struggled into the covers and hit at the wall until he found the light switch. He was so exhausted that he was sure he’d fall asleep straight away. Instead he started replaying the dinner conversation in his head. But his last thoughts before drifting off to sleep weren't of the massive workload that lay ahead of him or even of his perhaps renounced career. His last thoughts were of Jeff, semi naked, smiling and reaching for him.

 

It turned out that arranging the office of a diplomatic office was much easier when you had two eager assistants bored by a week of worrying about their boss. Jensen made sure the comm set up worked by sending his own report to his former captain and copied the recording to Central Worlds HQ on Altair Three. The crates were easily disposed of when Jensen discovered they were organised alphabetically and the shelves were just the right size. The books, files and even the notepads were embellished with the Central Worlds Corps logo. Jensen wondered if he should ask if they had a spare flag up on the station. That would really give the impression of a Central Worlds office.

Even so, the office looked better when they had finished. Jensen smiled pleasantly at Benedict and Tal and set them up facing each other in the outer office. He took the inner sanctum for himself, but left the door between them wide open. Both offices shared a massive window that looked out onto the world beyond and Jensen spent some time watching the traffic float past before bringing his attention back to the updates from the surface. His initial communication had resulted in a flood of messages to be read, responded to and filed.

Benedict brought him lunch, which Jensen ate at his desk, before ploughing back into the reports again. The exhaustion hit only once, when he closed the door and lay down on the padded shelf that claimed to be a sofa in his office. It was less effort than heading back to his quarters. He set his chrono and was refreshed when it went off after an hour.

Jensen only noticed how late it was getting when Tal knocked at the door and asked if he was coming to dinner. Jensen realised he'd been squinting to read the last of his reports and he looked out of the window to see that it was dark outside. The city looked pretty, lit by globes of light that appeared to float and sway in the every present currents. Jensen lost himself in the view for a moment, brought back by Tal's soft cough.

He needed the holds in the corridors to get along to the dining hall but when he scooted around the doorway, the exhaustion seemed to fade. Jensen felt himself grow stronger with every step and he didn't think that it was the scent of the food (scent, through water? He didn't really want to think about it) that was providing strength. He saw Jared waving his hands around as usual and Gen, a small spiking shadow by his side. Then Jared moved and Jensen met Jeff's eyes. If he didn't know better, he'd have said electricity flowed between them. By the time Jensen tore his eyes away and grabbed a plate to come and join them, he felt like he'd had a full night's sleep. More. He felt like he’d undergone complete rest and revivification therapy at that spa on Seaham. His nerves were vibrating.

Jeff also looked shocked as he sat opposite Jensen for their meal. He was watching Jensen rather closely for all that Jared carried the bulk of the conversation. Jensen popped in the odd comment but spent the meal trying to identify the buzz that seemed to fill his bones. On one hand, it was like he’d drunk too much Sanker Ale but he was clear headed and alert, ready to take on anything.

Jensen tried not to watch Jeff but soon gave that up. When their ankles met under the table, Jensen didn’t move his foot. It wasn’t that he didn’t try. It was more that his foot refused to obey his brain’s commands to draw back to a safe distance. Jeff had stiffened at the accidental contact but seemed similarly unwilling – or unable – to draw his leg away. 

The meal ended all too soon, for all that Jensen tried to eat slowly to draw it out. He liked Jeff’s company, he decided, setting aside the whole weird attraction. Jeff had a sly sense of sardonic humour that came out in reaction to Genevieve’s needling of Jared. His smiles, when they slipped free from the severe demeanour he adopted, were genuine and charming. His smile was goofy when he relaxed, a genuine grin softening the harsh lines of his face. And his mind was quick, keeping up with all of Jared’s random tangents and jumps in conversation. Jensen would have described him as the perfect man for him, had he not already been attached. He tried to drown the parts of him that wanted to fixate on Jeff’s muscles and his strong hands and think about what a good friend Jeff would make. He smiled as Jeff made his goodbyes, saying he’d show himself out.

The miners and Tal and Benedict all settled down to watch the latest D-Ball match on the vid screen in the large common area but Jensen waved off the offer to stay. He worried that the tiredness might return at any point. Luckily his recent illness seemed to give him some leeway and Jensen left the cheering and whooping behind and made his way to his rooms.

The buzzing feeling remained in his bones. Jensen wondered if arousal and attraction could account for it, but he put that down to wishful thinking. Jeff and he couldn’t fall into bed again. The rules might bend enough to allow Jensen to defend himself by claiming ignorance the first time but not when he knew about Orla. It was nice to remember, though. Jensen was alone in the corridor so he indulged a wicked fantasy of fucking in the water, being buoyed up by the currents. It sent a warming fire through his belly. Okay. So dreaming of Jeff and using him to fuel a few fantasies should be harmless enough. The regs didn’t police thoughts. Yet.

That was why Jensen didn’t blink at the figure waiting for him beside his door. Then reality came crashing back in. Jeff was leaning on the wall, arms folded casually across his chest. Jensen looked behind him but the corridor was empty.

“I could have let myself in, but thought I’d better wait for an invitation.” Jeff’s voice was lower, rougher, than it had been at dinner.

Jensen nodded. He played with the idea of denying Jeff entry, of slamming the door in his face (as much as he could slam a metal panel that recessed into the wall) but decided against it. His anger at Jeff was dissipating. The more he thought about it, the more he could forgive Jeff the fact he was a cheater. They could be friends. “Come in.” It was still a little begrudging.

Jeff waited until the door was closed behind them before he spoke again. “There’s something we have to discuss.”

“Why your bed?” Jensen suddenly asked. Why had Jeff not let him stay in a hospital? Why had he insisted on Jensen being placed, unconscious, into his bed?

“That’s-“ Jeff shook his head. “That’s what we need to talk about.” He drifted towards the kitchen (which Jensen had barely looked at beyond his initial inspection) and started opening cupboards without waiting for permission. He came back through to the main room with two of the weird mugs that still reminded Jensen vaguely of the cups his nephews used as young children and a bottle of something brown and luminescent. He poured a healthy measure into both cups before handing one to Jensen.

Jensen took it and sniffed it. Alcoholic and strong was his main impressions. He settled on one end of his sofa and waited for Jeff to continue. 

“You adapted to the gen mod patch really successfully. The most successful adaptation we’ve ever seen, actually.” Jeff seemed less than eager to get to the point. Jensen took a drink and waited. He’d learned this from one of his earliest COs. The man knew when someone wanted to talk and instead of blustering and forcing it out, he waited - ominously sometimes and kindly the others. Then the homesick new ensign or the lieutenant who’d nearly blown up the entire ship with an accidental smash of buttons while playing a stupid vid game would slowly and fully unburden themselves and the CO would be able to resolve most situations. Jensen liked the expectant silence. It fitted his style a lot more than the yelling, red-faced buffoon who’d been his next commander.

“You adapted as successfully as the original settlers did.” Jeff let that huge statement just float on in. So much for “mysterious origins”. The inhabitants of the planet knew their history.

“Settlers?” Jensen couldn’t help querying. Then scolded himself. He wasn’t here for a history lesson. He needed to know what happened to _him_.

“We knew we were descended from early human explorers. It saves a lot of presumed camaraderie and keeps the Central Worlds on their toes if they’re not sure whether they’re dealing with aliens or adapted humans.” Jeff let out a humourless laugh. “There was another side effect of the transition that’s rarer than the gills or the scales.”

Jensen nodded. Now they were getting somewhere.

“There’s a suggestion that sometimes a couple will… develop a deeper relationship than affection would seem to dictate. They would be reliant on the other’s presence. They needed contact. If they were denied this, the two would slowly and irrevocably fade and die.” Jeff’s hand crept across the material of the couch to lay on Jensen’s bare arm. The feedback started up again, another fizz of energy and, yes, arousal. Jensen squirmed at his end of the couch, feeling his dick stir again. He didn’t move away.

“The bond, for lack of a better word, was normally sealed with intercourse. But because it was so rare, the first settlers didn’t understand what was going on. Especially when bonds were established between people who were already attached to others.” Jensen pulled away at that and stood up.

“So there was nothing I could have done,” he muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, the words seemed to carry to Jeff’s ears and he came to stand behind Jensen, pulling him back towards his chest, slowly but persistently.

“There’s more I need to explain. But yes, Jensen, there was nothing you could have done. It wasn’t just casual. But what I don’t understand is why the bond started establishing while you were unmodified. That’s – it was unprecedented.” Jeff’s words were comforting in his ear.

Jensen thought through the conversation. “The bond isn’t complete, is it?”

“The fizz. The exhaustion. I thought it would stop once your adaptation settled but it hasn’t.” Jeff bent to nose along Jensen’s neck, his hair. He pressed soft lips to his cheek. “Being away from you has been torture.”

The barely-there kiss sent a pulse of want through Jensen. He could feel the warmth of Jeff’s body against his, making every nerve seem alive. And, inevitably, his cock started to pulse and grow. “Do we- Should we-?”

“Yes. We can’t stop it, Jensen.” Jeff’s own arousal became clear as he rutted against Jensen’s ass. The current between them strengthened. Jensen was surprised to realise every hair on his body wasn’t straining at its very limit. “We would-“ His arms tightened around Jensen.

“We’d die.” The idea should have sent a cold wash of fear through Jensen. Instead the heat seemed to spike and drive his blood wilder. He turned with the circle of Jeff’s arms and drew him into a kiss. It might have started as nothing more than a mash of mouths but it became deeper, powerful and addictive. Jeff tasted different, here, under the water. He was darker, saltier and Jensen couldn’t help moaning as Jeff licked his way into his mouth. Jensen grabbed at his shoulders, pulling him closer and closer. They were floating now, drifting inches above the floor and Jensen twined his ankles with Jeff’s.

Jeff pulled away, suddenly, tearing his mouth from Jensen’s and stumbling backwards. “Jensen.” The ragged way in which he said Jensen’s name sent another trickle of desire through Jensen. He started tugging at the fastenings in his new clothing, every movement magnified by the rippling water, swearing when they didn’t come free quickly enough. He was desperate to feel Jeff’s hands on his skin, to touch as much of Jeff as he could. “No. Stop.”

Before Jensen could demand more of an explanation, the sound of his door chime filled the room. Cursing under his breath, Jensen straightened his clothing and his hair before opening the door. A grim faced man, wearing something that could only be a weapon, stood there, frowning deeply. “I need you to step aside, sir.”

Jensen let him in. Jeff came out of the kitchen – obviously replacing the bottle he’d brought out – and nodded at the man. “Jensen, I’d like you to meet Petyr. He’s the head of my security detail.”

Jensen thought about holding his hand out for the man to shake, but at the forbidding nod from Petyr, decided the better of it. He nodded in return and waited.

Jeff spoke first. “We need to speak again. I’ll send someone to collect you tomorrow evening for dinner. I understand the miners have some more requests.”

Jensen nodded again, afraid to speak. He was afraid that he might ask Jeff to stay, to fuck him if he opened his mouth. The room seemed deathly silent as the door closed behind them and Jensen slept badly despite his previous exhaustion. He couldn’t reconcile his previous self-control with the wanton, needy, begging soul he became around Jeff. Forget the regs. He felt ashamed now and that burned in him all through the night.

 

There were more comm messages to be dealt with in the morning – from Begans interested in becoming involved with the mining operations as well as responses from the station – from the surface as Jensen had begun to think of it. For all that the station was a short shuttle hop away, being under the water seemed to make it even further. Jensen had never felt as isolated as he did under the vast weight of ocean. It was easier to go a mile up than a mile underwater on his planet, despite all the technological advances.

He was glad that he was busy. It took his mind off the revelations Jeff had dumped him with last night and also with the trepidation he felt at the idea of dinner. Some distance from the fizzing heat that had driven him wild last night gave him enough pause to think through the ramifications of it all.

If Jeff was the ruler of these people, they would not take kindly to any type of scandal if they were anything like the inhabitants of pretty much every other planet Jensen had ever visited. And chances were they would take even less kindly to the idea of an outsider, no matter the level of his adaptation, replacing their ruler’s wife. Jensen knew he should be using King and Queen, but he found it a little ridiculously fairy tale. And even if he did become Jeff’s new partner, did that mean he’d have to take on a political role? Then there were the consequences he faced within Space Corps. Jensen didn’t call up the regs – he didn’t want to risk a red flag being raised somewhere – but he was sure the memorised page, paragraph and sub-sections his junior officer hazing had driven into his mind were accurate.

He would need to give up space. Forever. He’d never be able to go home either. At least, not without Jeff by his side. And Jeff had to stay here. He’d be disgraced, possibly imprisoned. Definitely fined… 

Jensen scrubbed his face with his hands. He was delighted to see Jared slipping through the door balancing two boxes that could only mean one thing – lunch.

Jared, it turned out, also had romance on his mind. “Do you think Genevieve likes me - like that?” he asked, just as Jensen had taken his first bite of some kind of bake. Jensen chewed thoughtfully, glaring at Jared a little. He didn’t really _know_ Genevieve that well after all. And he envied Jared the simplicity of his situation.

“Ask her.” The words “you idiot” remained unspoken only through the application of massive self-control. At least he still had some left.

“And you think I should date her?” Jared looked a little worried at the thought. 

“I think you should do what you want to do, Jared. Being as you’re old enough to take responsibility for your own actions.” Like me, Jensen thought. He wanted Jeff. There was no doubt about that. Mystical, magical bonding or not, he and Jeff had undeniable chemistry. It made all his other lovers fade into insignificance, almost. He hoped Jeff felt the same. “Remember that she does technically work for you, though.” In a civilian capacity. With no additional rules about fraternisation to muddy the waters as far as Jensen knew.

Jared was now trying to come up with the perfect, romantic date proposal. Jensen listened to him babble endlessly before cutting through it. “Gen appreciates straight shooting. Ask her to dinner. Ask her to dinner in your quarters and cook for her. She’ll like that.”

Jared lapsed into silence, mulling over Jensen’s words. Jensen tried to ignore the whole idea that dinner equalled a date. Eating was a natural part of life. It wasn’t always a prelude to sex. However, most of Jensen’s previous relationships had begun with an invitation to dinner and it wasn’t a tradition he disliked.

“Who will you eat with, then?” Jared interrupted. It was nice that he thought of that. Unfortunately, Jensen explained he was going to be eating with Jeff before he thought to censor himself. Jared looked him straight in the eye. “Is this something I need to know about?”

Jensen shrugged. He didn’t think Jared would be too impressed if he admitted to the incident on the space station. And Jared would be duty bound to report it and someone within the Corps would hear and that would result in a whole mess landing on Jensen’s head. “It’s to do with why he helped my adaptation. Does that make sense?”

Jared looked a little suspicious still but accepted Jensen’s explanation – for now. He dug into his own food, letting Jensen eat in peace for a few moments. “But how will Gen know it’s a romantic dinner and not just because we eat dinner together?”

“You’re on your own with that one,” Jensen said. He nodded to Tal who was hovering just outside his door with a pile of files. “Now I’ve got work to get on with…”

Jared nodded, smiled at Tal and waved to Benedict before heading off along the corridor, apparently rehearsing the conversation to himself. Jensen buried himself in work again.

 

The transportation Jeff sent for Jensen was a little on the ostentatious side. It was one of the fish wagons, like the medvac, but definitely designed for speed and privacy, having tinted black windows. Unfortunately, the large, ornate gold crest on the side gave the curious a clear indication as to its origin. It screamed royal.

The inside was ordinary enough – no need for plush materials here under the sea. The security guard waiting inside for Jensen was less ordinary and made him shiver a little under the flat stare he received. Jensen used the strap provided when the fish took off – it was faster than the medvac and sped through the light traffic, making the journey take half the time.

Approaching the palace from this angle, Jensen became aware that it really was different from the rest of the dwellings. It stood a little apart from the rest of them, in a section of cliff that went deep down into where the ocean became too dark to see. The use of natural rock was there, with lights showing in all sorts of nooks and crannies but the main entrance was entirely man-made. Or Began-made. It had pillars which Jensen remembered from his old history books as being part of rich, fancy buildings. It was richly decorated with a material that shimmered and shifted in the flickering light much like the scales on his skin were apt to do. And it seemed to stretch up and down further than any building had a right to.

Of course, the- Jensen thought for a moment. Vehicle was too impersonal and since he was at a palace and going to meet a king and all that jazz... The carriage pulled up at the grand entrance and the door was opened by one of the uniformed guards just waiting there. Jensen half expected the man to reach out his hand like Jensen was a pretty, pretty princess like his brother had teased, but luckily he had some dignity left to him. Jensen didn't have to wait in the tile-decorated atrium for long either. Jeff came down one side of the carved staircase and waited at the bottom for Jensen, smiling slightly. He wasn't dressed in the usual skin-tight black, but in something similar to what he'd worn the first night on the space station. The sheer material rippled around his body, making Jensen's mouth water. He wanted to get his hands on that skin again.

Jensen realised it was more than simple lust as something in him responded to Jeff's presence again and that distracting buzz under his skin began, different from any arousal he'd ever felt. He drifted forward, trying not to grin wildly in pleasure at seeing Jeff. Seemingly aware of the eyes of the guards, Jeff stretched out his hand to shake Jensen's in welcome. His fingers stroked up Jensen's wrist though, the gesture hidden by the bulk of their bodies and Jensen knew, even through that tiny moment of contact, that Jeff felt exactly the same way.

Jeff turned and led Jensen up the staircase, Jensen taking care to keep his eyes up, off Jeff's ass and the muscles of his back. Even looking innocently at his shoulder made Jensen remember the strength of his arms and the way he'd effortlessly held Jensen up as he fucked into him. They passed the occasional guard - male and female, Jensen noticed - as Jeff led him further into the palace, away from the formal and public areas towards something more private. It was pretty similar to the room Jensen had woken in – a mix of photographs and simpler artwork. Jeff finally stopped before a door and opened it wide, gesturing Jensen inside.

The dining room was cosily lit, lamps giving off an amber glow. Three places were set at the table, though. Jensen stuttered to a halt.

"Orla has to join us. She's - involved too." Jeff sounded apologetic but Jensen wondered if this had really been such a good idea.

Jeff busied himself at the sideboard, leaving Jensen no other choice than to seat himself along one side of the table. He still watched Jeff, unable to take his eyes off him. The fizz of bubbles under his skin seemed manageable when he gave into the urge to trace the lines of Jeff's muscles under his shirt, to remember what lay under the fastenings of his pants. To remember the taste of Jeff's mouth.

Jeff came over with a covered dish and a bottle. He seemed to be aware of what Jensen was thinking because his own eyes traced Jensen's features, eyes catching on Jensen's eyes, his lips and following the open neck of his own shirt down. 

"Drink?" Jeff's voice was rough and Jensen nodded, unwilling to trust his own. Jeff poured shakily. On the other hand, it was good he had something to do that would distract them both. If their lingering looks had lasted much longer, Jensen would probably have jumped up on the table and offered himself as the main course.

They were further distracted when the door opened again and Orla swept in. She wasn't dressed to the nines like she had been when Jensen had seen her before. Instead she wore the simple tight black that seemed to be the most common clothing here. Of course, it hugged her in all the right places, making her curves and trim waist obvious. Jensen stumbled to his feet but sat back down at her chilly nod of greeting.

Jensen had to bite his tongue. For all his natural attraction to Jeff, he hadn't approached him nor made the invitation to the private viewing room. Nor had Jensen asked for his biology to interact with the freaky genes that mod patch had contained. So for all that something bizarre was going on, Jensen didn't feel Orla had any right to blame him for something that was apparently part of her culture.

Orla slammed into the seat opposite Jensen and scowled in silence while Jeff served them all. Fed up, Jensen turned to Jeff and offered him a conversation opener about the history of the palace. Luckily, Jeff seemed to accept it for what it was and began discoursing on the original settlement and their usage of natural caves and the adaptations they'd needed to make.

During a conversation about the replacement of depleted power packs with more natural sources of power, Orla slammed her cutlery down and finally deigned to speak.

"You're giving this outsider all of our secrets now?" She looked angrier than before, a hot tinge to her usual coldness. 

"Jensen's no longer an outsider. You know this." Jeff was calm but implacable. Orla frowned, making her beautiful face ugly. Then she cooled off again and Jensen saw sadness underneath. He knew that eating dinner with your husband and his new boyfriend couldn't be comfortable. Especially when nothing about the relationship was resolved. 

Silence lingered through the rest of the meal. Jensen gave up eating, his stomach churning with nerves, long before he was actually full. He had the feeling that what came after dinner would leave him sickened.

He wasn't wrong.

Orla started by throwing accusations about cheaters that Jeff had no grounds for denying. "I bet this bond is just another one of your excuses for dissolving our marriage!" That made Jensen startle. Their relationship was already working towards divorce, even without him. It didn’t excuse anything though.

Jeff finally stopped her barrage with an upraised hand. "No. You know as well as I do that Jensen and I are bonded. Or we will be." That stopped Orla in her tracks. "The decision we have to make is whether Jensen and I pretend that we are merely friends while we serve out the rest of our term. Or do we dissolve this marriage and force an election?"

Jensen jerked upright at that. He knew about Jeff's status but had hoped that he wasn’t going to prompt a crisis as much as anything else. The consequences for him would be terrible. Not only did the images of his picture plastered across the tackiest tabloid vids with salacious headlines nearly have him hiding his head in his hands but Space Corps certainly wouldn’t like that. Rules and regulations, again, started spinning through his head, a solemn voice reading them in a tone that bespoke final punishment. "I don't think public is the best idea. Not with the recent influx of the miners. It took enough work to get a yes vote on that."

"It might show the less eager voices in the government that you are just the same as us. More, actually. Some of them don't even have scales." Jeff laid out the advantages like he'd spent some time rehearsing his arguments. From the amount of time Jensen had spent thinking over his body’s craving for Jeff, it made sense that Jeff had thought it over too. “Of course, I could step down and leave you to appoint a successor.”

“That never works.” The way Orla quickly dismissed the idea suggested she had thought it out too. Jensen could believe she was a political creature then. It was a side of Jeff he found interesting. They were both looking to protect their position and the role they had chosen in leading their people.

Jensen watched carefully, sipping his drink to avoid saying anything to shatter the careful equilibrium. There was a certain amount of dislike at being treated like a piece of meat but, on the other hand, he was also sure of one thing: Jeff was intent on going through with their bonding. He wasn’t about to commit suicide or force Jensen to do the same. The conversation, even the vibe, between Orla and Jeff read to Jensen as professional colleagues, acquaintances. Whatever this marriage had once been, Jensen had the sense it had more to do with politics than anything else.

There was a quiet moment then, a lull as both Jeff and Orla seemed to mull over their options.

"Jensen, would you come live here?" Orla asked, softly.

"I could. I guess." Jensen scratched at the back of his neck. He wasn't quite sure what would happen once he and Jeff sealed the bond between them. His body seemed desperate to make that soon, from the way every fibre of his being seemed intent on Jeff. The room seemed too large now and he was too far away.

Jeff stood and walked to the sideboard. He retrieved the bottle - some kind of fruit juice. No one wanted alcohol to muddle their wits in this situation - and filled Orla's glass. He came to stand behind Jensen and placed his hand on Jensen's shoulder as he filled Jensen's glass. The unsettled feeling filling Jensen's mind settled at the touch. Jensen looked up in gratitude to see a similar relaxation in Jeff's features.

Jeff sat down again but this time he chose the seat nearest Jensen. Jensen leaned over and placed a hand on his thigh. The touch, even through clothing, made him able to think more clearly. "I should maintain rooms at the Miner's HQ. To allay suspicions. And we need to think of an excuse for me being here so often."

"Then that's it." Orla pushed herself up from the table. "The formal paperwork is prepared but not filed until either the bond becomes public knowledge or our term of office ends. In public, Jeff and I remain married but from here on out-" Orla took a steadying breath. "From now, we are only married by a piece of paper."

She nodded and left the room without waiting for another discussion to begin. Jensen felt a brief sympathy for her. This was a dreadful situation for her to be put in.

Jensen turned to check Jeff was okay. He looked more relieved than anything. "Are you going to be fine?" Jensen asked, regardless.

"It's been a long time coming," Jeff said. His eyes were a little sad still. "We have been married for political reasons far longer than we were ever really in love."

Jensen rubbed at his leg, trying to offer some comfort. "If you need time-" he offered, selflessly. He could feel the agitation of the bond to be completed, to be joined to Jeff, but he could tamp it down for a few more days, bury himself in work.

Abruptly, Jeff stood up again. "No. No longer. I don't want to wait." Jeff held out his hand to Jensen. "C'mon."

Jensen wondered if he should let anyone know where he was. He realised Jared would probably realise what had happened and he could send a message if he was delayed in the morning. All his worries set aside, Jensen stood, placing his hand and his trust in Jeff. He floated over, pulled close, and Jeff and he twined in each other's arms. Finally, for the first time that day, they kissed.

The bond seemed to ignite, realising that no impediments stood in its way. Jensen relished the way Jeff pushed back against him as they kissed, strength met with strength. They were in the middle of the dining room, anyone could walk in, but Jensen didn’t care as he slipped his hands up under Jeff’s shirt and finally touched bare skin.

Jeff was the one to tear away. "Come with me, Jensen," he whispered. Jensen took his offered hand and was pleased when Jeff pulled him to a door recessed at the back of the room. He didn't really want to have to maintain a straight face as they trotted past guards and palace flunkies. Instead the hallway behind the door was mercifully quiet. The hall was lit by dim lights and Jeff dropped any pretence of decorum and swam along the narrow corridor. Jensen dived forward too, pulling himself along to keep up.

They were laughing and gasping when Jeff pushed open another recessed door. The room beyond Jensen recognised. It was Jeff's room, where he'd woken up only a few days before. Jeff swirled to a stop, looking happier and younger than before. His dark eyes were dancing. The lines that had marred his face seemed smoothed out.

"Hey," he said, rather foolish. Jensen responded by swinging into his arms for another bone shuddering kiss, his blood fizzing under the brief touches of Jeff's hands. This was what he remembered, what he'd been waiting to repeat. Jensen rocked his suddenly hard length against Jeff. He wasn't going to last, didn't want to. Jeff seemed equally hurried now, pulling at the fastenings on Jensen's clothes with urgency. Finally they were naked against each other, with nothing in the way. Jensen wrapped his legs around Jeff, hitching himself higher until he floated at waist height, arms arranged around Jeff's neck. Jeff cupped his ass with one hand, pulling Jensen close. His other encircled both their cocks, tugging hard. It was rough, too fast and bone-shattering. Jensen arched, spilling his moans and pants into Jeff's mouth. Then he came, hard, hot and slick between them with Jeff following moments later. Jensen didn't feel that deep satiation that normally followed an orgasm though. Instead his body seemed still perched on that knife edge, energy swirling through him. 

Jeff's kisses seemed to suggest he felt the same. The edge of urgency seemed to have slid away but he was as intent on driving Jensen wild as he had been previously. He tumbled Jensen down onto the floor, bare rock cushioned by a thick rug. Jensen went eagerly. His body knew what it wanted - needed. Jeff didn't seem to want to hurry though. He stroked his way down Jensen's body, kissing at his skin, leaving marks when he wanted, little bites that Jensen arched into. Jensen was shivering with need by the time Jeff worked his way to his straining cock. 

"Turn over." The order took a few moments to sink past the lust clouding Jensen's mind but he obeyed unquestioningly. Jeff started at the top of his neck, kissing, caressing and learning every inch of Jensen's back. He paid particular attention to the scales. New as they were, Jensen hadn't realised how very sensitive they were. It seemed like every tiny one of them was connected straight to his balls, making his cock twitch and flex without the slightest bit of contact.

When it seemed to be getting too much, Jeff moved down, parting the globes of Jensen's ass. His calloused fingertip pressed at the furl of Jensen's hole, the muscle giving way eagerly. Jensen bit back a whimper when Jeff pulled his finger away. He appreciated slow and gentle but Jeff had teased so much that Jensen was going to start begging any moment now. Jeff murmured soft reassurance at Jensen's complaint, kissing the top of Jensen's tailbone before taking a firmer grip on his ass and applying his tongue to Jensen's ass.

This time, Jensen couldn't contain his shriek. He'd had a boyfriend try this a couple of times but he couldn't match Jeff for enthusiasm or skill. Jeff seemed to use his tongue in every direction at once, teasing that tight furl wide and forcing inside. His fingers soon joined the action, scissoring and pulling. Jensen had lost control by now, begging Jeff for more and to stop and to please, please, please fuck him. Jeff seemed inclined to give in, finally lining himself up and pressing in. It shouldn't have worked - spit and raw were no substitute for slick - but the burn was worth it. Jensen relaxed and let Jeff in. 

Jeff didn't move for a long moment when he was fully seated. Instead he curled over Jensen, pulling his mouth to his for a long kiss. Jensen could taste himself, dark and musky, on Jeff's lips and he shared the taste until it was gone. Jeff rocked his hips slowly, seeming to want to make this last. Jensen could feel why. The fizz under his skin that had taken second place as the need to be fucked rose up. Somehow - he didn't know how to explain it - Jensen knew that Jeff was feeling exactly the same way. He could feel Jeff's pleasure at the way his cock was buried deep in Jensen's body, that he belonged there. He could feel the way Jeff loved the taste of his skin, his body. He could feel the way Jeff cared for him, as a person, not just as someone his strange biology had chosen. All that and more. Jensen shifted his hips to feel Jeff's pleasure intensify. He could feel that electric buzz merge, transfer between them as they moved in perfect unity. The brush of Jeff's thick cock over his prostate had Jensen crying out again. But, again, it was more than that. He could sense the way Jeff's satisfaction at giving that to him spiked and made him want to unerringly hit that spot. Jensen obediently spread his thighs wide.

It wasn’t even a loop. The emotions and sensations they were sharing were instantaneous now, ratcheting higher and higher until Jensen wasn’t sure where he ended and Jeff began. It was that final breaking of all boundaries that seemed to shift Jensen towards his final orgasm. It rushed through his veins, white fire burning out all thought, anything other than the feeling of Jeff in him. Jensen kept his eyes squeezed tight but even so a pure white light flashed through the room, blinding him.

Slowly he came around and was aware of Jeff doing the same. They were floating in the middle of the room, still joined. Jeff had his arms wrapped around Jensen, holding him close to his chest. Slowly and carefully Jeff pulled free before turning Jensen around carefully. He was unwilling to let him free though. Jensen slotted his leg between Jeff’s thighs – careful to avoid brushing sensitive parts – and enjoyed being held in the loose embrace. He felt fucked out, in the best possible sense. There was also an odd sensation in his head, like two pulses beating just ever so slightly out of sync rather than just his own.

“Jeff?” Jensen spoke in a whisper. His nerves were raw and sensitised. Anything louder would make him jump. Instead of Jeff’s mouth moving, Jensen was overwhelmed by a feeling of being loved, of sheer affection. Slowly Jensen puzzled it out. He was in Jeff’s head and Jeff was in his. He could make out feelings, well-being. Their bond was more than just a need for touch – in whatever way necessary. It wound them together, heart and soul.

Jensen could no more imagine being away from this man than he could imagine cutting off his own limbs. Something in his heart settled as he realised that his career with the Corps was ended, just like that. Everything he had even known was over. This was his life now.

Gently, Jeff kicked against the floor and they floated towards the bed. Jensen didn’t struggle, knowing that if he did he would break their connected warmth. He bumped down onto the shelf and Jeff pulled a comforter over the two of them. Jensen ended up curling over Jeff, his head pillowed on his shoulder. He allowed Jeff’s slowing heartbeat and breathing to draw him down into sleep. They could deal with everything else in the morning.

 

The morning started with Jensen climbing on top of Jeff and fucking himself on Jeff’s morning wood, chasing away his lingering dreams. That made the morning start a little later than they’d planned by the time Jensen had washed and Jeff had shaved. Jensen hesitated before the doorway, unwilling suddenly to step out and face the real world. 

“You’ll be able to feel me all day.” Jeff spoke softly, still unwilling to break the spell. Jensen shifted his hips and smirked at the ache low in his back. Jeff kissed him, teasingly, but then spoke seriously. “No matter where you are on the planet you’ll feel me and I’ll know what you’re feeling too. We’ll be together. Nothing can break this bond, Jensen. Nothing.”

Jensen let the smooth gravel of Jeff’s voice caress him, fill the air around him. He grabbed one more kiss before stepping back and smoothing his clothing. A carriage would be waiting to take him back to his office and his own quarters, as well as the waiting Jared and his demand for an explanation. Jeff stroked a hand down Jensen’s back, absently tracing the path of his scales as he guided him to the vehicle station. The touch comforted more than aroused this time, but Jensen was grateful for it.

 

Jared was waiting in his office when he came back. Technically, Jared was filing some reports from all the surveys he and the miners had been carrying out. There were sheaves of brightly coloured transparencies over Benedict's desk when Jensen strolled in. He'd dropped past his own quarters for some fresh clothing but he was still hours late.

Jared was waving his hands around excitedly, explaining something to Benedict no doubt, as Jensen came into the room. Jared shot him a sharp, unreadable glance before letting Jensen wish everyone a good morning. Jared followed him into his office, though, and shut the door behind him, his pleasant mask dropping the instant the door was sealed.

"Please tell me you weren't where I think you were last night," Jared pleaded, dropping into the seat opposite Jensen's desk. Jensen took his time settling in, not knowing quite how to answer that.

"Did you have a nice night with Gen?" he replied, aiming for distraction.

Jared grinned, momentarily, before his frown came back. "She's amenable to something longer term. You, however, are not going to ruin this whole endeavour because you can't keep your dick in your pants."

"Okay. Woah." Jensen could feel the hackles on the back of his neck rise. A fresh wave of fury swept over him and he realised Jeff, back in the palace, was reacting to Jensen's anger. He calmed down and tried to send a wave of love and reassurance through the bond. It seemed to work, although Jensen sensed that if he wanted, Jeff would be here as quickly as he could swim.

Jared was watching him oddly as Jensen got all the emotions in his mind under control. "It's complicated. And also long term, I guess." Jensen knew it was long term. It was permanent. For all he was in the full flush of fresh bonding and love, in reality, this changed his whole life. He would need to have some space to think it over. Later. He had Jared to deal with now. "It definitely won't hurt your operations here. In fact, it may even improve the longevity of the project. However, in the short term, it's nobody's business but mine and Jeff's and you cannot tell anyone anything." Jensen bit his lip. He sounded more like his young sister swearing him to secrecy than a grown man.

Jared seemed to get the humour of the situation. He let out a stifled laugh. Jensen's comm chirped and he flicked it on to see the large queue of messages he had to work through. That made him sigh. "I've got work to do. Look, Jared, I wouldn't do anything to harm Space Corps or Central Worlds or your company. You just have to trust me."

"I do," Jared said, easily. "You're good people. I just don't want you getting hurt. There was a weird undercurrent the other night, at dinner."

"Yeah." Jensen didn't want to elaborate. The thought that Jared had no idea ran through him and he nearly broke into bitter laughter himself. "Dinner? Later? And we need to organise a trip out to the potential mine site. I've got some questions and some reports to file."

Jared tossed him a mock salute as he wandered out of the office. Looking at him now, Jensen could see how different his movements were to Jeff's, and even Jensen's own. He tended to float now, swim, rather than try to mimic the walking he'd be doing on a surface. Another thing to think about. Jensen filed it away in the recesses of his mind. He had a job to do and he was already behind.

 

Gen was waiting for him when he floated into the common room. She'd been flicking through channels on the vid screen and stopped at a news channel. Jensen watched Jeff standing beside Orla and make some kind of speech. The sound was down too low for him to make out the words, but Jensen remembered the emotions Jeff had sent him at the time: distaste at the size of the crowd, worry that he wasn't doing the right thing. Happiness as he remembered their night together and anticipation for the night to come. He'd received a message that Jeff would be amenable to spending the night at the miner's complex.

Jensen had replied in the affirmative immediately.

He turned to see Gen frowning at the screen. "What's up?"

"More questions about mining and resource depletion. I want to bang their heads together. They don't understand the benefits." Gen sounded disgusted but she turned the vid off and looked at Jensen. "Although you seem to be seeing some of the benefits." Her grin was pure wickedness.

Jensen bit his tongue. "There can be dangers here. More than just the water," he finally said. It was maybe a bit vague and mystical, but he really needed to keep it as much of a secret as he could. Gen laughed at him, seemingly believing him to be sarcastic, before tugging him through to the kitchen area.

"I hear you want to come visit our lovely site." Grateful for the change in topic, Jensen focused on that until dinner was through. He watched the D-ball game with the others, trying to work out all the scoring rules before he became aware that Jeff's presence was coming closer to him. He excused himself before the end of the game, pleading tiredness, and pelted back to his quarters, arriving just before the chime went and Jeff slunk through the door.

Jensen couldn’t help touching him as he strolled in, hand flat on Jeff’s back. Jeff turned into it, making the movement more of an embrace. Something in Jensen that he’d been unaware of as wrong and disquieted settled as Jeff wrapped his arms around him. He leaned into the touch, just as much as Jeff was leaning into his arms. “So, what do you want to do tonight?”

 

The next morning, they were walking along the corridor towards the main entrance when Jared’s door flew open. Jensen stopped in alarm and Jeff bumped into his back. Genevieve stuck her head out, almost as if to check the coast was clear. She frowned at Jensen but tried to look like she hadn’t been there all night as she came out of the room. The act was completely ruined by Jared coming to the door behind her. “Hey, Gen. You left-“

Gen grabbed the jacket he was holding out and made her way back to her own room, stomping as much as was possible when she was floating through water. Jensen was a little startled there. He’d considered this – he was moving smoothly, replicating all the types of walking he could desire, plus adding a few more shifts and swimming techniques to his usual gait. His body just seemed to know what to do, how to adjust his weight. Genevieve and Jared were fitter than average and used to planet and space and they still looked awkward from time to time. Maybe that was part of his adaptation after all.

Jared was still standing in the doorway. At least he was wearing underwear, although the shorts left a lot of skin on display. Jensen couldn’t help teasing. “Did my advice work? Or are you touting for business?”

Jared looked down at his body and had the grace to flush. He made the sort of face at Jensen that most grown men left behind in preschool and shut the door on Jensen and Jeff’s laughter. 

 

The main room was mainly empty. Jensen remembered that this was technically a rest day and it looked like most of the miners had chosen to sleep late. One of the early risers had engaged Jeff’s bodyguard in conversation. The man looked happy enough and Jensen didn’t worry about tales being carried.

After he’d teased Gen out of any embarrassment, Jared and Gen were both enraptured by Jeff’s description of some of the wildlife that lived on preserves far from any of the cities on Delta Bega. Jensen drank his coffee and listened as Jeff explained the way in which the native creatures could prove dangerous. He’d need to know this when everything came out and he lived here permanently. Stings from the creature Jeff called a seabee sounded unpleasant, if not fatal. He made a promise to himself to avoid anything that was bright yellow.

Jensen seemingly spaced out while he communed with caffeine and he missed the conversation that had swirled on without him. Jared asked a question and Jensen became aware of an expectant silence. The question must have been for him. “What?”

Jeff chuckled. “I was offering to show one of the more accessible sights to you. There’s a garden that makes use of native plants in a truly spectacular way.” He didn’t sound upset and Jensen felt that warm pulse of affection that he’d come to associate with Jeff thinking about him. He looked up to see Jared and Gen nodding. 

“It’s a rest day for me too. There are no duties that require my immediate attention.” Jeff stretched his arms out. “Let’s go for a walk.”

 

The gardens were further out than Jensen had been so far. He could sense Jeff’s amusement as he plastered himself to the window of the vehicle and watched the world go by. The mass of people soon gave way to a less tamed planet, with bare rock spires disappearing down deeper and deeper until their base could no longer be seen. Jeff took his tour guide duties seriously. He pointed to sights of interest throughout the journey. The best part of the trip - to Jensen's mind alone - was the continual warm presence of Jeff by his side, a hand occasionally straying into contact with the back of his neck, his hand, his leg. It was perfectly innocent to the outside observer but every touch came accompanied by a wave of affection and care that warmed Jensen through. One touch was supplemented by a less innocent intention that made Jensen's stomach dip.

The gardens took around an hour to get to from the outskirts of the city. Jensen found himself fascinated by the changing colours of the water they passed through - sometimes, where the ocean floor rose to meet them, it was a bright aqua but when the floor vanished and the currents met, the water almost became midnight. He could see clearly through most of it, although the wagon had lights that flickered on when the driver pointed the nose of the vehicle down towards their destination.

The light from the surface barely penetrated here and the ocean was a dark, velvety colour. Jensen blinked a few times to adjust to the lack of light and then realised he could see well enough. There were soft lights lining the entrance to the gardens and between the rock spires and plants. Many of the brightly coloured plants seemed to give off a soft glow too. Shoals of fish caught the light on their shining scales as they darted through the waving fronds in every colour of the rainbow. The colours were overwhelming: soft luxuriant greens were paired with spiky reds and luminous delicate violets. Jensen was quite overwhelmed as he drifted through the veritable jungle of colour.

Jeff was smug behind him but stayed quiet as Jensen took it all in. He bent down to look at a plant with spikes that seemed to form some kind of net to trap the odd fish who dared swim inside. It had a vivid blue flower at the centre, one that glowed brightly. The spikes drifted apart as Jensen’s breath hit them and he reached forward to touch it. Jeff reached over and caught his hand. 

“It’d trap you too.” He didn’t sound annoyed. More…fond. “And then I’d need to take you back to the hospital and it’d spoil a lovely day.” There his voice dropped into something dark and promising. Jensen straightened up all the same and let Jeff draw him deeper into the gardens. They were the only people here and soon the two couples drifted apart. Jared and Gen seemed more interested in each other than the splendours of the gardens, constantly brushing hands by each other and swaying close to whisper in each other’s ear. Not that Jensen couldn’t forgive that. The whole place seemed like some magical other world, a romantic paradise.

He followed Jeff down a tiny path between two towering rock spires. It was quiet here and the murmurs from Jared and Gen faded away. Jeff reached for Jensen’s hand the moment they were alone and used it to tug him closer. A bend in the rock hid the rest of the garden from view and Jeff wound his arms around Jensen, using his leg to draw Jensen even closer. They kissed, daringly to Jensen’s mind, right out in the open where anyone could come around the path for all the remoteness of the place. Excitement, a thrill at the idea of being caught, ran up Jensen’s spine. It was with reluctance that he broke the kiss.

Jeff seemed to be thinking something similar and his eyes were nearly black as he brought his thumb up and stroked it over Jensen’s spit slick bottom lip. Jensen couldn’t resist pulling Jeff closer again, hand flat against the black of his fitted clothing. It took everything Jensen had to not push that thin barrier up and out of the way, to bare Jeff’s skin for his hands, his mouth. The groan that escaped Jeff as they separated suggested he felt the same way. He tugged Jensen around the next spire and stopped.

Jensen’s breath stopped. They were in a grotto, spires enclosing them on three sides – nearly four. The plants had grown here undisturbed by the currents and layered themselves luxuriously over the rock until it seemed like they were the only things. Vivid pinks warred with dark blues and that rich green that underlay everything. Jensen spun around slowly, letting the colours wash over him and eventually turned to Jeff.

Jeff wasn’t watching the display. Instead he was totally focused on Jensen. An oddly soft hand came to caress Jensen’s cheek. “Beautiful.”

“Yeah. It’s… breath-taking.” Jensen couldn’t look away from Jeff’s intent gaze.

They met in another smash of lips, arms wrapping tight around the other. Jensen didn’t worry about anything or anybody else and shoved Jeff’s clothing out of the way. It was as if they were alone in this place, some magic spell protecting them from all threats. It was so quiet that Jensen could hear Jeff’s soft gulp as he thrust his hand under the waistband of his pants and encircled his straining cock. A quick jerk and Jensen knew exactly what he wanted to do. He knelt, knees cushioned by the flowers and quickly unzipped Jeff’s pants, swallowing him down in the same movement. Jeff’s shout was muffled by the fist he shoved against his mouth as Jensen suckled at the head before hollowing his cheeks and sliding down as far as he could. Jeff’s other hand was firm on the back of Jensen’s head but Jensen used his own hand to keep Jeff’s hips still. This wasn’t about him taking the thrust of Jeff’s cock. It was about offering pleasure and taking it. The heavy taste of Jeff on his tongue made his own cock ache and Jensen freed it to rub hard as Jeff came, hard and fast, into his mouth. The echo of his pleasure across their bond made Jensen want to yell and scream along with him.

Jensen swallowed, not letting Jeff’s cock escape just yet. He was close, so close. Jeff was watching him and Jensen couldn’t last in the face of that adoration. Love was the closest thing he could think of to describe the emotion that swept him into his own orgasm. That should scare him. This bond was a chemical reaction, nothing more. Some mistake of their biology. But Jensen had to discount all that as something in himself felt exactly the same.

 

Jared’s mouth looked puffy and his hair was wild as they met again to clamber into the transport back to the main city. Jensen smiled and avoided winking with a strength of will he wasn’t quite sure he’d possessed. Gen looked ready with excuses but instead a comfortable silence reigned as they made their way back to the miner’s complex.

Jeff looked hesitant as they pulled up, but Jensen calmly invited him to dinner and to stay. They had their visit to the mining site in the morning. Jeff should stay. No one commented on where exactly Jeff would be staying. That was equally fine with Jensen.

 

The rocks they pulled up next to were fairly nondescript to Jensen's eyes but Jared's hands tightened on the seat in excitement. "This is the start of the richest vein of ore. We could actually harvest here without digging too deep. Or use that new replacement technology, where the ore is replaced with environmentally neutral substance." Jensen let Jared speak to Jeff as he floated out of the confines of the wagon towards the rock face.

Maybe he could retrain as a miner? If he intended to stay here, which he would have to with Jeff's commitments, he would need some form of supporting himself. The mission would only be sustained until some agreement was brokered on a less temporary basis. There was no military threat here and the comms were good enough to summon anyone if there was an issue. And it wasn’t exactly probable that he’d still be welcome in the Space Corps ranks anyway. So maybe there was something else Jensen could do. He doubted his childhood dream of being a fire-suppressant agent would really be possible under all this water, but he could do something. Something useful. Something that would let him feel less like a kept mistress anyway.

That was all thought for another time. First he had to note down any observations and record everything for transmission to the station and on to the Central Worlds. They wanted to see what they were investing in, after all. Jensen swam over to Jared, who was casually holding onto the rock to keep himself in position. Some of the other members of the survey crew were even less comfortable, attaching themselves to the wagon and to the rock with cumbersome ropes. Jeff was also floating easily, dipping down to check that the attachments weren't damaging the rock face. They were sealed with the same thing used to attach workers to spaceship hulls, explained Gen, and dissolved with a special mixture. Jensen had heard that discussion at dinner and drifted nearer Jared.

Jared was listening at the rock, or at least that was what it looked like. He had his ear pressed against it. Then he frowned and dug a scanner out of a pocket on his thigh.

"Jensen? Come and look at this." There was a sharpness in Jared's voice for all he was keeping it as steady as he could. Jensen moved quickly, although trying to keep calm himself.

The scanner had a blur of different coloured lines and shapes. Jared tapped the screen, that age old gesture whenever equipment did something unexpected, and he pointed it at the rock again.

"This didn't look like this yesterday." Jared shook his head. "Just - come check this out with me."

That was a little beyond what Jensen was supposed to do but the site had been checked and rechecked a ton of times before they'd even been allowed near it. He followed Jared under an overhang - Jared going hand over hand while Jensen rippled his body to move swiftly and silently through the water.

Under the rock was dark and shadowy. The main light came from Jared's bleeping scanner which he waved around. The movement sent ripples through the water that chilled Jensen's skin. "What's up?"

"There's a gap where there wasn't one yesterday. And we did a few core samples under supervision. But nothing that should have caused this." Jared swore under his breath. "One of the problems is that this cursed rock seems to bounce scanner signals around. No idea if this is accurate or not." Jared slapped at the rock beside him. There was a grating noise.

"What's that?" Jensen looked around but everything looked stable.

"That's what I heard before. But louder." Jared was rapidly pressing buttons on the scanner now and the display flickered at each command. Jensen turned around as he heard Jeff calling for him. He felt a wave of worry pass down the bond between them and tried sending back reassurance. 

"Down here, Jeff-" Jensen had barely managed to get the words out when the grating noise drowned him out. He felt more than saw the wall of rock falling towards him and the oblivious Jared. Fright, redoubled by the worry and shock from Jeff rushed through him. He had enough presence to try and pull Jared free before the wall of rock broke free and pulled them down towards the distant ocean bed. Jensen was aware of the pressure of the rock crushing him and the limp weight of Jared under him falling before something hit his head and he sank towards that unwelcome blackness once more. What was it with this planet and unconsciousness?

 

Jensen woke slowly. Something soft lay underneath him, unmoving, and sharp, hard pressure from above stopped him moving more than the odd fingertip. He could breathe and the water didn’t taste too stale. He blinked his eyes a few times but it really was too dark in here for even his adapted eyesight. Jensen could feel himself starting to panic. He’d been in tight squeezes before. There was no getting around it – this was bad – but panic would just make everything worse. He soon realised that some of the panic didn’t belong to him. Jensen sought for the bond that linked Jeff to him. He’d started visualising it as a rope, with ends that wound themselves through every part of his being. He tugged on the end of the rope, trying to send a message of reassurance and calm. The relief that flooded him in return was intense.

Jensen relaxed his body bit by bit until his muscles stopped screaming in agony. Then he tried to categorise any pain. Too much of his body was without sensation but whether that was due to injury or merely lack of circulation, Jensen couldn’t tell. His head throbbed and the rock on top of him was very heavy, but he wasn’t bleeding anywhere he could tell. He sent another bit of reassurance towards Jeff and turned his attention to Jared.

He presumed that the soft shape under him must be Jared anyway. The thought of it being some vegetation or animal was there. It would be worse if he and Jared had been separated, Jensen realised. Jeff would find him. Jeff knew he was alive. If this wasn’t Jared… Jensen clamped down on the resurgent panic. He could feel Jeff’s worry too. It was a shame he couldn’t actually read Jeff’s thoughts or send him messages. Jensen had to suppress a giggle at the thought of using the bond to do something as mundane as telling Jeff to bring home fruit juice or whatever. Great. Now he was becoming hysterical.

Jensen carefully moved his arm in tiny increments. The rocks shifted once but settled again after a moment. Jensen didn’t want to risk the rocks falling further and crushing the life from his body. All too slowly he worked his arm around to feel at the shape underneath him. The feel of an arm and a shoulder told him it was Jared. Jensen felt down the arm for Jared’s pulse and found it just above his elbow. It was slow but steady. Fingertip by fingertip, Jensen worked his hand up Jared’s arm towards his neck. The flutter of gills told him Jared was breathing too. He was alive. He was unconscious but he was alive. 

Through the bond, Jensen tried to convey his mix of relief and concern. There was another spike of worry from Jeff before he seemed to get the message. Jensen left his hand where it was and started trying to feel if Jared was bleeding anywhere with his other hand. After another threating groan from the pile above him, he stopped moving.

Jensen counted his breaths until they were steady again. Through the bond, he could feel Jeff’s attention drifting between him and whatever he was doing. Jensen knew rather than hoped that Jeff was trying to find him and rescue him. And Jeff wasn’t just doing it because of the accident of biology that made them reliant on each other. Jensen was sure of that above all else. 

It was that certainty that made him stop and think. He’d always found Jeff attractive – their first meeting was testament to that. But when had it stopped being about bodies merging in pleasing ways and started moving towards a proper relationship? Jensen wondered if the bond had forced them into that but instead he started working through his memories. In some ways, it was the best thing he could do instead of working himself into a panic about the weight of half the planet above his head and his injured friend under him. He took his time to puzzle it out. When had he fallen in love with Jeff, scary as the thought might be?

Images of Jeff smiling, explaining things patiently to him. Angry at Orla. Trying to remain calm. Playful. Teasing. All the different ways he looked at Jensen. There was warmth and affection there, a special look that he gave no one else. It was a smile and a wink and a twinkle all wrapped up in one. Jensen rested his head against the back of Jared’s head, trying not to crush him. Jeff loved him. He knew that. And he loved Jeff in return.

Jensen let out another slow breath. He was going to stay here and go native. He started working through all the things he would need to do. He was going to have to resign. That would need to come first. He should write to his mother. Maybe his family could visit? He’d need them to meet Jeff. But that would need to be after their relationship became something less of a secret. Jensen tried to plan around all the subterfuge and compromises, anything to avoid thinking about the rocks shifting above him.

He held tight to thoughts of Jeff and made plans for his life to come. He thought back over childhood stories he’d need to tell, photos and vids he’d need to share. He would have to tell Jeff about the weird situation about his brother and his brother’s best friend when Jensen was fifteen and about his first girlfriend who’d made him dress up to take her to socials and dumped him for a man ten years their senior. She had kids now. He wondered if Jeff wanted children. Or if he had children? There were questions he needed to ask and so much to find out.

Jensen barely knew the man and here he was, in love and planning his whole future anew. Suddenly the bond flooded open and Jeff seemed much nearer. Jensen checked Jared again and turned his attention back to the outside world. The sound he had been hearing for some time resolved itself into people shouting and something drilling. Light from a flash blinded Jensen for a moment. He blinked rapidly and then used the tiny amount of light to look down at Jared. There was a deeper darkness in the water underneath him but Jensen was unable to make out the colour. Jared was still breathing, though, slowly in and out, his gills barely flickering against Jensen’s hand.

“Hey!” Jensen shouted, sudden urgency striking him. “We’re here.”

“We can see you!” a voice, not one Jensen recognised, yelled back to him. He could feel Jeff coming nearer again and a wild hope burned through the bond.

“I’m okay, I think. But Jared-“ Jensen couldn’t explain it. The voice turned away to yell at someone else and Jensen couldn’t make it out. 

“We can’t see him.” The voice was more subdued. “We’re going to try prying the rocks up to get to you rather than lifting them.” It was encouraging now. “Try to remain as still as possible.”

Jensen felt the soft patter of gravel against the back of his neck. They must be working with the rocks now. He braced himself over Jared, desperate suddenly that no further harm came to his friend. A slip now and they’d both be nothing more than smears at the bottom of the ocean.

The rocks shook and groaned but the rock ceiling remained stubbornly positioned above his head. Jensen could hear the voices outside yelling in frustration as he relaxed his body down again. The patter of gravel against his back stopped and he breathed easily again. "Jensen? It didn't work."

"Yeah." Jensen didn't quite know what to say to that. He wondered how long they'd been down here to start with. Soon he was going to run into bodily function issues. Food. Something to drink. Other needs. The stranger's voice was replaced by someone much more familiar and welcome.

"Hey, Jensen." Jeff's rumble was reassuring at least. "We're going to try drilling once the equipment gets here. We're not going to give up." Jensen heard that as I'm not going to give up. The bond between them seemed to swell with affection. "Gen's here too." That let Jensen know he shouldn't say anything too inappropriate. Then a whirring noise drowned out any further conversation. Finer gravel sifted into the water surrounding Jensen and he coughed. It irritated his gills and his throat burned. As suddenly as it had started the noise stopped. His tiny cave under the rock was suddenly flooded by light. Jensen shut his eyes against the burn.

When he could bear it, he opened his eyes again. There was a narrow hole through one of the biggest rocks to the side of him. The light meant he couldn't see beyond and it cast weird shadows. But he could still see the redness in the water under Jared and the pale cast to his skin. "Jensen?" Jeff's voice was worried now for all that it was clearer.

"Jared's not looking too good. There's blood." Jensen kept his voice even. "He's pale."

"Can you move him? See the wounds?" There had been a cut-off cry when Jensen spoke but Jeff was calm and in control. Worry still flooded down the bond.

"Not enough room." Jensen didn't want to say more. There was another flurry of discussion on the other side of the rocks. 

"We're going to feed a camera in." Jensen was suddenly glad it was Jeff and not the stranger explaining everything to him. The light shone back through the narrow hole and a tiny black module floated through. It steered around the cramped quarters and then floated down and under Jared. All the time Jeff kept up a rumble of reassurance. Jensen wasn't even really listening to the words. Instead he let the warmth of Jeff's voice wash over him and the love/worry/affection he felt through their bond. Jeff wasn’t panicking – at least not yet – and Jensen followed his lead.

Jensen wasn't sure how much time passed. He seemed to drift, almost asleep, in some kind of trance. His back started to ache from the awkward position he was holding himself in over Jared, trying not to press down and hurt him. Eventually it was a blast of worry that made him pay attention to the voices outside again. 

"Jensen? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah. Jeff." Jensen coughed. His throat was still rough from earlier. "I can."

"We're going to try lifting the rocks again. Need you to stay still, love." The endearment seemed to slip out without Jeff noticing but it made Jensen smile. Maybe he could return the sentiment when there weren't a whole lot of other people about.

"Go for it." Jensen braced himself again, waiting for the hail of gravel again. The rocks screeched against each other and a flow of fresh water along his left side suggested they were successful. Jensen felt himself being grabbed and pulled in that direction. He let his body go limp and then he was free. The outside world was a blur of lights and colours and shouting as he was passed from person to person. Finally he ended up in a med box without really knowing what was going on. The medic left it cracked open while Jensen was made to sip at numbing liquid from a tube. The feeling had started to come back into his floppy legs and the drink relieved the burn. He could feel Jeff's concern but he focused on watching what he could see around the bulk of the med box. A muted cheer went up when Jared's limp body was whisked out from under the machinery and rock but it quickly diminished.

Then Jeff was there, eyes serious. He casually reached out a hand and laid it on Jensen's shoulder. To anyone else it might look casual and friendly, but the way Jeff stroked his thumb against the bare skin at Jensen's neck, and the wave of relief that flowed down their bond meant Jensen knew otherwise. He tried to send reassurance back, convey with a look that he was okay and ready to be put through whatever tests they needed.

Behind Jeff, there was a crashing sound as the tentative balancing act between rocks and machinery came to an end and the rocks plummeted to the ocean floor. That sent a shiver up Jensen's spine. They'd been so close-

"Jared?" Jensen ignored the glare from the medic to ask.

"Safe. He'll be fine." Jeff finally lifted his hand away. "I've got some things to deal with here. I'll meet you at the hospital."

 

The hospital was bustling and busy. It turned out that other miners and Begans had been hurt by the rock slide. Jensen was shoved into a side room, hooked up to machines and mainly ignored by the medical personnel racing around outside. Jensen couldn’t even feel aggrieved. Other than the odd tingle passing through his legs and the sudden awareness that every part of his body hurt in one way or another, he wasn’t in any immediate danger. He watched the way everything outside the window of his room looked almost like the hospital he’d been sent to after his run in with the gravelator and a stack of crates. The differences were all the more startling – people suddenly floating along the top of the ceiling and swimming rather than walking.

Jensen laughed to himself. He was so used to this world after a matter of weeks. It was starting to feel like home. With comforting thoughts like that, and the sense that Jeff was coming closer, Jensen let himself drift off to sleep.

 

Jeff was holding his hand when he woke up. He knew the familiar warmth before he even opened his eyes. The bleep of the machines let him know he was still in the hospital but the noise from outside the room had diminished to a soft whisper.

"There was knock out stuff in that drink?" Jensen accused as he fluttered his eyes open, trying to focus.

"Nah. In one of the shots they gave you." Jeff stroked over his hand and then let it go. Jensen immediately felt the loss. There was a soft noise from the other side of the room and Jensen rolled his head on the pillow to see Genevieve looking lost on the other chair.

"Hey, Gen." Jensen wanted to reach out to her. She looked bereft, almost, completely out of her depth. She floated across to him and hugged him carefully. "What's happening to Jared?"

Gen shrugged but it was Jeff who answered. "They've got him in a dry room. They were talking about reversing the gen mod. The gene patch was interfering with his organ function. That was an hour ago." The tight pinched look on her face suggested that hadn't been a pleasant hour of waiting. Jensen could understand that.

"Could - would that happen to me?" Jensen suddenly had to know.

Jeff shook his head. "Sorry, Jen. Not getting rid of me that easily. Doesn't work for everyone and sometimes the gene patch is more than temporary. You're going to be half fish forever more." He tried to keep his tone teasing but Jensen could feel the apprehension. He rolled his eyes at Jeff to let him know that. There weren't really words that could describe the mix of annoyance that would be something to worry Jeff and delight that nothing that simple would split them apart. Instead, Jensen let the bond speak for him.

He felt better again when an auxil dropped past the room with a tray of drinks and snacks. Outside the room, Jeff's normally invisible bodyguards were obvious, occasionally strolling to and fro. However the worry about Jared pervaded every casual look, touch, comment. Genevieve seemed sunk into her own head and Jensen didn't have the words to take her out of it. He lay back in the hospital bed and worried in his own quiet way.

Another hour passed before the doctor came to see them again. He looked grave and Jensen feared the worst for a sudden sickening moment.

"He's out of the woods. He really needs the regen facilities on the station though. The trauma's closer to space injuries than what we normally see down here." The doctor wiped his hand over his forehead and Jensen realised he was nervous. Jensen snuck a look at Jeff who was standing tall, looking grim and authoritative. It was a glimpse into how the rest of the planet saw him. "We're organising the transfer now. Ms Cortese? Do you want to accompany him?"

Gen nodded and gathered herself to follow him. Jeff laid a hand on her shoulder and murmured reassurances into her ear but Jensen couldn't hear them that clearly. The doctor was busying himself checking Jensen over while Gen made her way out. When the door sealed back into its groove and the corridor noise seemed silenced, the doctor stood back and looked at Jeff, nibbling on his bottom lip. "Sir?"

"Yes." Jeff still carried that aura of power and fear. Jensen wasn't afraid to admit he found it hot. He wanted them to be back in either his quarters or Jeff's. He wasn't too fussy as long as it was private.

"You should have informed us of the bond. You know the rules." The doctor seemed terrified that Jeff would order him thrown in prison or something. Instead Jeff dropped his head and nodded.

"There were circumstances." His words carried an apologetic tone without him admitting to any wrongdoing. The doctor nodded but held out a blood sampling kit. Jeff obediently let the doctor take a sample before Jensen was subjected to the familiar pinch of the device on his finger.

"We need to get it registered. I presume that Her Majesty already knows." The doctor seemed more sure of himself now. He was following procedures. "It is something to be celebrated." He didn't sound as sure of that.

"I know," Jeff replied, before guiding the doctor towards the door. There was something of concern in the bond now. Jensen surmised that all their careful plans had somehow been destroyed.

Jeff took his seat beside Jensen's bed and reclaimed his hand. "I could find you."

Jensen took a moment to work out what Jeff meant. "The scanners don't work so well. That's why there's a human survey team. They couldn't find us with the machines. But you could." The plain and blunt explanation seemed to fit. Jeff nodded. "And they needed to know why."

"It was a massive rock slide. Half the cliff face seemed to slide off. There's debris for miles. But I could lead them straight to you." Jeff's hand tightened. "I made them hurry."

Jensen took his turn stroking Jeff's hand. Suddenly Jeff let out an anguished sob and roughly took Jensen into his arms. Anger, fear, worry flooded through Jensen. "I thought I'd lost you. And it wasn’t- It wasn’t because I’d be affected too." The words came out in a rush. Jensen started to protest that it didn’t matter but his words were cut off by Jeff’s punishing kiss. It carried the pain and concern that Jensen might have been killed, might be gone right now.

Jensen kissed him right back, just as fervently. What the rest of the world – the rest of the universe – thought just didn’t matter any more.

 

There was paperwork to fill out, his signature and thumb print to attach to complex legal documents. Jeff signed away his marriage too. Orla showed up accompanied by her own entourage, which apparently included this planet’s particular form of lawyer. She looked a little sad, momentarily, but asked about Jensen’s injuries cordially enough. There was a discussion about the emergency election but Jensen was starting to feel the ache in his bones again and longed for sleep. A nurse answered Jeff’s abrupt summons and the room was cleared in record time, Jeff displaying more of that authority that Jensen found reassuring and hot in equal measure. But the pain relief was welcome and Jensen revelled in the cessation of pain, letting his heavy eyelids drop.

Jeff didn’t leave the room, but sat in his chair again and took up Jensen’s hand. Jensen slept easier knowing he was there.

 

Jensen wasn’t sure where they were headed when the carriage (that was what Jeff called it) took them past the units where the miners lived and didn’t continue on to the palace. He raised an eyebrow at Jeff who shook his own head in embarrassment.

“We’re going to my family’s house. Can’t… I’m not welcome at the palace right now and my place is a lot more comfortable than your quarters.” Jeff’s voice dropped low. “And the bed is bigger.”

Jensen laughed. He should be annoyed by Jeff’s high handedness but the idea of a comfortable bed after the long hours in the hospital one sounded good indeed. Jeff’s house was in one of the old established areas, doorway carved into a natural curvature of the rock much like the palace. The rooms were cheerily lit but thankfully empty as Jensen trailed in behind Jeff.

“My parents live on the far side of the planet. They were talking about visiting next week.” Jeff flicked a few switches and Jensen became aware of the smell of brewing coffee. “My sister is on the station.” Jeff turned to look at Jensen more carefully. “Do you mind the whole family reunion thing?”

Jensen shrugged then sank onto one of the benches beside the table. It was all so human normal. “Not a big deal. You’ll do the same when you come to visit my parents.”

Jeff was halfway through an automatic nod. Then he stopped. “How would we do that?”

“Go visit them. It’s not a long transit. The routes are pretty direct once you get a little closer to the Central Worlds territory.” Jensen took the cup Jeff offered. “If I can leave.”

Jeff sat opposite him. “You can leave. Remember – I could survive quite well on the surface. It’s more a time thing.”

Jensen quirked his mouth into a half smile. “We’ve got time. I’m not likely to be reassigned anywhere else.” He let out a bitter snort. “In fact, I’d better resign.”

“What?” Jeff didn’t seem to understand.

“I can’t leave you, Jeff. But even if I could-“ Jensen reached across to lay his hand on Jeff’s arm. The touch intensive the emotions he was trying to convey. There wasn’t much discussion after that. Jeff didn’t even manage to show Jensen where the promised comfort of the bed was. Instead they used the support of the kitchen’s sturdy furniture to show each other how scared they had been and how happy they were that nothing worse had happened.

 

The message from Gen stored on the system seemed to let the remaining tension drain from Jensen’s body. He had asked Jeff to set up a forwarding system so he was able to catch up on reports from the comfort of the couch in Jeff’s front room. Jeff seemed to have an incredible amount of calls of his own to return, and Jensen found himself drifting in and out of sleep to the low babble of voices and Jeff’s answering rumble.

Gen hid most of her surprise at seeing Jensen’s surroundings. She must have realised something was going on in the hospital and Jensen knew he’d have to tell everyone the whole story soon enough. Gen was mostly distracted by the fact that Jared was out of immediate danger at the moment though. He was still unconscious in the regen tank but was now expected to make a full recovery. Gen had asked for her own mod patch to be reversed. She doubted they’d be back to the surface before they needed to report to their central office anyway. Jensen nodded. He’d miss them. He hoped they’d still be friends if he managed to see them off-world.

Jensen caught Jeff watching him as he ended the vid. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Jeff floated across the gap between them and took the tablet from Jensen’s hands. He set it carefully on the table before stretching out over Jensen and kissing him thoroughly. Jensen wasn’t adverse to the manoeuvre, spreading his thighs wide to make space for Jeff between them. He lazily moved his mouth, enjoying the slow build of arousal. For some reason, the redoubling of the emotion between them through the bond made sex even more intense. He enjoyed the slow movement of Jeff’s hands over, and then under, his clothes, mimicking the actions himself. Soon enough he was rolling his hips in slow undulating movements matching Jeff’s rhythm. 

“Bed?” Jensen gasped when Jeff peeled his top up to reveal his heavy chest. Even though Jensen thought they should move, his hands caressed the flex of muscle and were unable to resist trying to pull Jeff closer to feel the smooth naked skin of his back. They were interrupted by the insistent chime of the door.

Jensen hurriedly rearranged his clothes while Jeff answered the door. Benedict’s voice floated through to Jensen and he stood, wincing a little as his stiff aches decided to make themselves known. Benedict sounded agitated and Jensen could feel Jeff’s own worry and the spark of his anger. It was the cold kind of fury and Jensen’s brain attached a little bit of blue to it.

Benedict was in full Corps uniform when he came into the room. He was even wearing his sidearm, which sent a shiver of apprehension through Jensen. He looked relieved to see Jensen in one piece but then his face fell. 

"There's been some rumours, sir. And..." Benedict swallowed almost audibly, his gills flaring redly on either side of his neck. He held out a transparency to Jensen. "The Corps wants you to report topside - to the station."

Jensen read the notice and nodded. He was still, he supposed, under orders. There were regulations about diplomatic missions and liaisons and Jensen wondered if he had managed to finally break just about all of them. The commands were unequivocal. He was going to be facing a panel of his superiors sooner rather than later. "I should have resigned sooner," he told Jeff, handing over the transparency.

Benedict looked outraged. Jensen supposed it was breaking another rule about non-allies and orders and suddenly he sighed. He was not only going to have to put his personal life on trial, something no person should ever be called to do, but he was going to have to convince the board that this mystical bonding thing actually existed. "At least I can check on Jared. Meeting your parents may have to wait."

 

Jensen made Benedict stand outside while he kissed Jeff goodbye. His cock was still interested in more than a kiss but there wasn't enough time. Benedict’s edict made it clear that he needed to get back to the surface and catch the next shuttle. Jeff couldn't leave just yet but the station was apparently still within range of the bond. Jensen could feel a continual undercurrent of unease and worry from Jeff as he sat beside Benedict and headed to the surface. Inexplicably, Jensen now began to worry about breathing air and walking in normal gravity again. What adjustments would he have to make to cope with going back to normal? Jensen tried to focus on that to avoid wondering about the clusterfuck that awaited him.

 

Returning to the surface was anti-climactic. Benedict had long moments of coughing and choking as they climbed out of the transport and through the dry-lock leading to the surface buildings. Jensen let the water drain and walked out into air. He breathed shallowly for a couple of moments before taking a proper lungful. It didn't taste any different to the water he'd been breathing and he shrugged, letting the blowers dry him almost instantly. Benedict eyed him a little resentfully as they fastened their belts and Jensen felt like a stranger among his own kind. The shuttle door closed almost instantly behind them and Jensen got the feeling it had waited as long as it could.

He was not expecting the armed guards at the dockside.

There were four of them in full Corps uniform, sidearms supplemented with stubby rifles slung across their chests. They eyed Jensen with dead eyed, calculating stares, working out his threat level. Seeing Jared in the hospital was out of the question. Jensen was hustled into the Corps Administration area faster than he liked, the guards forming a neat, silent cordon around him. Even Benedict was left standing as Jensen was shown, rapidly, into the main facility. The room he was brusquely gestured into wasn't a cell, but the door to the small one room quarters was locked behind him securely. After a few minutes of frantic pacing, Jensen calmed himself with deep breaths. There was nothing he could do. His trial would be the only chance he had to speak plainly and hope that was enough to save him. He could still feel Jeff, even though it was tremendously faint, and he held onto that as he rolled himself in the thin and scratchy blanket on the bed and attempted to rest.

 

Three days later, Jensen was dragged in front of the board which had convened in a hastily modified conference room. His meals had been brought to him but other than the silent auxil who delivered them, he'd been isolated. A list of the charges against him had been delivered and he'd had access to a limited selection of rules manuals, finally able to see, in black and white, the regs he had worried over but not dared look up. The ones with endangering the interests of the Corps and the Central Worlds government as a whole were probably the most dangerous but they’d decided that conduct unbecoming to a Corps member would apply too. The sheaves of printouts were his only company through the long hours and days of waiting, with no support, no help and only the faint presence of Jeff in his mind to keep him sane.

The board were equally po-faced as Jensen sat before them. The bland room behind him filled with a crowd, pressed together on narrow uncomfortable plastic benches that appeared to have been scavenged from the surrounding corridors. He refused to turn around and make a spectacle of himself. Instead he went over his notes again and listened to the low murmurings that grew louder and louder as more people came in. The weight of humanity behind him suggested that the room was fully packed. Jensen could feel their eyes boring into the back of his head. He tried to put it out his mind and get his facts in order. Some legal advice would not have gone amiss, actually because, in the end, the only defence he had against "conspiracy to bring down a government" was the truth. He had conspired in a cover-up, but putting the best spin on things was all he could hope for.

Jensen was respectful and listened carefully to all the charges. Dereliction of duty was one he completely disagreed with. And so was desertion. He'd had no intention to desert. Resign, yes. Desert, no.

"I plead innocent to all charges." It was all he could do.

They let him speak. He didn't conceal anything, from his first meeting with Jeff to his adaptation to the gene patch. He explained about the irrevocable nature of the bond and how it had already started forming. He tried to be delicate about the manner in which the bond had been sealed but the dubious expression on a particularly crusty old administrator drove him to be explicit. Jensen knew his ears were burning with embarrassment and the shifting from his audience intimated the same as he explained the precise details as clinically as he could. He took care to stress Orla and the doctor’s reaction to the bond: their acceptance, their knowledge that would be unable to dissolve the bond. That it was a twist of biology, a joke on the part of fate, rather than a deliberate, malicious action by Jensen.

Then the board took their time turning over every stone, examining, cross-examining and downright accusing Jensen of lying. There was absolutely nothing he could do to prove the bond existed. He had no changes beyond the obvious ones imposed by the gen mod. Jensen tried to explain about the Began doctor taking blood again but the board let slip that the Began government weren't responding to their questions. They seemed to be making up for that by asking Jensen the same ones over and over again.

Jensen was allowed to sit down while the board brought up their privacy screens. He sourly reckoned they were all going to the bathroom and drinking coffee rather than discussing the case. The water they'd provided him was long gone. He lost track of quite how long they were locked up in their deliberations. It must have been some considerable time because eventually an auxil was sent with another carafe of water for him. Jensen didn’t try to make conversation. Instead he stared at the wall and clung to the faint colouring of Jeff he could sense and drew comfort from that.

The eventual lowering of the screens may not have boded particularly well for him but at least something was happening. Jensen struggled to his feet and waited while everyone in his captivated audience settled down again.

"Wait!" A familiar voice shouted from the back of the room and Jensen finally allowed himself to turn around. He had been correct. The narrow benches in the room were filled to capacity with people from every branch of the Corps judging by the multitude of uniform colours and patches. Towering above them, Jared was striding down the centre aisle, followed by Genevieve, who was carrying a crate of files. She dumped it gratefully on Jensen's table while Jared presented his credentials to the board.

Jensen kept silent but looked in bemusement at Gen as she started pulling out chips and files and transparencies from the crate and organising them on the table. Then he turned his attention to Jared. Jared was holding onto the board's table rather too firmly for Jensen’s complete comfort. He was holding himself too tightly as well, not like Jared's usual comfortable take-over-the-entire-room authority. He was also pale under the tan of his skin. His knuckles might have been white but Jared stood tall and refused to sit down until the bench agreed to hear his evidence.

"Should he be here?" Jensen asked out of the side of his mouth, using the shift in attention to Jared to cover his words.

"Nope." Gen was abrupt, which Jensen took to mean she was angry with him. Then she let out a soft sigh. "He thinks you and Jeff saved his life with that bond of yours. This is his way of paying you back." Jensen shot her a sharp glance. She was trembling slightly, obviously nervous, although she was trying to cover it with a show of bravado.

"You would have found us. You know that." Jensen watched the reaction of the board to Jared carefully. Outsiders, even ones as well connected as the heir to the Padalecki Corporation, were not normally allowed to interfere with Corps business.

"Not before-" Gen cut herself off and sat down beside Jensen. The worst didn’t bear thinking about.

The crusty administrator was arguing with Jared now. But as he watched, Jared tamped down on his impulsiveness and listened patiently. Then he spoke again. Jensen couldn't make out the words but he could tell that Jared wouldn't stop until they let him address the board or escorted him forcibly from the room. Jensen made a private bet with himself that the administrator would probably order that.

Eventually they allowed Jared to speak. He corroborated large chunks of Jensen's testimony, whether on purpose or by accident, Jensen wasn't sure. What was new was the documentation of the original discovery of the bonding that Jared played on the large vid screen in the conference room. It was when he was watching them that Jensen realised they could have come from no one other than Jeff. He sought that small warmth in the corner of his mind and attempted to send affection through it. Instead of the usual echo, a sudden spike of pain made Jensen double up over the table.

The proceedings descended into chaos.

 

Panic flooded Jensen's mind. What had happened? Where was Jeff? He would have felt something happen to him even if no one told him. Jensen cursed the distance, the board, the Corps and their stupid rules. He cursed his own biology. And he worried. 

Jensen was aware of all the shouting and yelling behind him and the batter of the convenor's gavel. Silence was restored and he pushed himself upright, still shaking from the pain now throbbing in his head. It was like a slowly tightening vice, constant and persistent. Jensen nodded to Gen who rubbed at his back as he straightened. Jared had started across the room from his position by the vid screen but he stopped and turned to the group. "Jensen just tried to push emotions to Jeff. He couldn't but his reaction was a typical one."

Jensen had no idea what Jared was talking about as he pressed some buttons on the control panel beside the screen. The vid flickered and raced until a man, dressed in a looser version of the Began's usual black clothes and with gills addressed the camera. The scientist discoursed about the affect space travel had on the bond. Jensen only focused on one point. Jeff must be in a shuttle and that meant Jeff was coming here.

Jared kept talking, showing the vids and revealing the secret of the Begans origin (he gave credit for the discovery to Jensen). The crowd behind him were restless, a sibilance of whispers following all of Jared's revelations. Jensen tried to listen - he was learning about his bond, all the things Jeff never had time to tell him. But all that he seemed capable of taking in was that Jeff was coming, Jeff would be here soon and Jensen ached for his touch.

 

This time, when the privacy screens went up, Jensen wasn’t alone at his table. Jared and Gen sat on either side of him.

“Should you be out of the infirmary?” Jensen asked, prodding at Jared. He was rewarded with a flash of a red puckered scar, clearly healing.

“I’m going for another dip in the tank tonight. And even though I had a life threatening injury, I’m still not sleeping as much as you did.” Jared’s grin took the sting out of the statement. Jensen grinned right back. Jared was a friend for life. 

It was odd how strange it was to see them without the marks of gills on their necks though. Reversing the gen mod had meant that they no longer had any of the signs of adaption but it showed how normal it had become for people to have gills and scales that Jensen thought they looked strange without. Jensen rubbed at his back, feeling the smooth path of scales under his clothes. He couldn’t think of it being gone now.

Gen was avidly updating Jared on the last D-ball scores. Some kind of championship was being fought. Jensen tried to pay attention but his eyes were on the shimmering blue of the privacy screens. He wanted to pull out their power source and hear and see what they were doing. He wanted to know. It was his future, maybe even his life, that they were deciding.

The crowd behind them started drifting away. Jensen was glad. He didn’t want this to be public any more. He just wanted it over, in fact. He wasn’t sure what might happen, but he knew this hidebound organisation was no longer a place he fitted.

The screens finally came down. “We will accept your version of events. We will also accept your resignation or you will be discharged.” Whether that discharge would be with prejudice went unspoken as Jensen nodded.

“I’ll resign. I should have done that when the scope of the problem became clear.” Jensen was happy enough to get away with this. He pulled out his ID card and the procedure was over in a few minutes. There would still be lingering consequences as termination payments and the shipping of his few personal effects were organised. Most of his things would be sent to his parents on their planet from what he could make out. That suited him fine. He’d need to send them a message anyway.

Jared was still waiting for him when everything was wrapped up. “You should eat.”

“You should rest.” Jensen wasn’t fooled by Jared’s casual pose. He was trembling slightly. “You should go back to the infirmary now.” Gen looked at him gratefully and tugged Jared to his feet, tucking herself under his arm. 

Jensen followed them out, the crate of resources in his arms. He found it strange to not have the constant shift of water buoying him up, the movement of the currents brushing against his skin. If he was planetside – normal, earthy surface planet, that was – he would have wind, he supposed, but the air on the station was still and static. He missed the water. But he felt buoyant in other ways. The truth was out and he had resigned and he wasn’t going to prison and everything else would work out. He had no reason to believe that it would, but something just made him feel that the worst that could happen was already behind him. 

He was aware of a strengthening of the presence in the corner of his mind he associated with Jeff. Jensen smiled and followed Gen and Jared more eagerly now. Sure enough, as they made their way back to the main concourse of the station, there was Jeff, as tall and proud as ever. He smiled lazily at the others before wrapping his arms around Jensen and pressing his lips to his cheek. The fizz under Jensen’s skin – and the last of his headache – settled and vanished. It wasn’t an inappropriate display of affection, not an embarrassing public display, but Jensen felt happy. He was laying his claim.

He would need to have some rings made, perhaps. That old human tradition to show commitment and love might be something Jeff would be willing to go along with. “Hey, I resigned.”

“I heard. Me too.” Jeff slung his arm over Jensen’s shoulder and grabbed the bag lying at his feet with the other hand. “Been offered a new job, though.”

Jensen leaned into the embrace for a moment. “Yeah.”

“Turns out our rediscovered colony wants to establish more permanent diplomatic relations with the Central Worlds Government. A formal embassy.” Jeff’s wry tone let Jensen know how keen he was on the idea. “Don’t suppose you know any ex-Central World Corps members who might be looking for a new job? I’m in need of an assistant.”

Jensen let out a low chuckle. The idea sounded more promising now. “I think I might. He might need persuading though.”

“And what form would this persuasion take?” From the twinkle in Jeff’s eye, the feelings seeping through the bond were already hinting at the general direction of Jensen’s thoughts.

“Sex, Jeff. Lots and lots of sex.” Jensen kept his tone serious and sombre but Jeff threw back his head and laughed anyway. Relief, affection and not a small amount of desire swirled through Jensen.

Then Jeff was tugging at his hand, pulling Jensen toward the Began suite on the station. “We should get started on that. Right now.”

Jensen waved goodbye to Gen and Jared, who made a lewd gesture behind Jeff’s back. He didn’t even look remorseful when Gen smacked him.

 

The suite was comfortable, luxurious almost by station standards. The bed was solid and large enough for both him and Jeff. Jensen was a little thrown as he landed heavily on the mattress, Jeff kneeling above him. It took him a moment to realise why everything felt strange. They were used to fucking in the water but hadn’t touched each other in a normal grav situation since the first time they’d met.

Jeff didn’t kiss him. Instead he watched Jensen’s face carefully, shifting a hand to stroke down his cheek. Over the bond, Jensen could feel worry and care in almost equal measures. “Are you going to be happy?”

Happy? That wasn’t something Jensen had ever really thought about. He’d been ambitious and he’d been driven. He’d been good at his job. But happy? Before he’d met Jeff, he guessed that came and went. “Yeah. I am.”

Jeff kissed him, gentle at first and then deeper as Jensen opened his mouth to let the tongue slip between his lips. Jeff pulled off reluctantly and went back to smiling at Jensen, his hand in Jensen’s hair, thumb stroking down the back of Jensen’s neck. “I wondered if I was going to lose you.”

“You couldn’t. You can’t.” Jensen looked up and saw his own overwhelmed feelings reflected in Jeff’s eyes. “Nothing would stop me from coming back to you. I was going to resign, when we were ready for the truth to come out.”

Jeff kissed him at that. “It all happened so fast. No more mining operations for you.”

“Or for you.” Jensen fumbled at Jeff’s shoulders until he found the fastenings to his clothing. “No more clothes either.” The mood shifted from careful to something more light-hearted. The fizz under Jensen’s skin turned to bubbles, making him feel lighter and, as it finally stuck him, free. No more rules, no more regulations. He stripped his old uniform off – he’d need to shop for some more civilian clothing tomorrow – and lay back to let Jeff look his fill.

“I think I’d like to do some more things that should be illegal with you.” Jeff muttered as he dropped down to kiss Jensen again. Jensen tried to pour his agreement into the kiss. He could live with that. He could live with anything, pretty much, as long as he had Jeff by his side.


End file.
